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Kayla's Only Heart

~ Always learning. Always progressing.

Kayla's Only Heart

Tag Archives: risk

Flashback Friday: “Bigger Than My Body” Above The Pavement

04 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by KaylasOnlyHeart in Essay

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Bigger Than My Body, change, dreams, encouragement, Flashback Friday, foundation, growth, hopes, John Mayer, music, risk, success

We all want to soar when it comes to life to dreams to love. In “Bigger Than My Body,” John Mayer declares, “Someday I’ll fly/Someday I’ll soar/Someday I’ll be/So damn much more/’Cause I’m bigger than my body/Gives me credit for.” Let us not forget that we have the ability to soar and that others possess this potential as well. Keeping this bigger picture in mind helps us reach our goals and encourage others as well.

Often times we hold ourselves back because, simply, it’s easier to accept the status quo. Most people understand that the rock stars we hear on the radio, the anchors we see on TV, the best-selling authors we read exemplify rare cases. Yet the poets who share their pieces with writing communities online also find success. They take the first step toward flight. Maybe it leads to a full-blown writing career. Then again, it might never lead to any published work. Emerging from their shell, no matter how slowly, marks the path to success.

Mayer points out the possibility that “Maybe I’ll tangle in the power lines.” Lifting ourselves from our foundation involves more risk. Obstacles surround us overhead, and the solid pavement remains below. It provides stable ground, but it also hurts as a landing spot after a tumble. The firm aspect serves as the core or the heart of the quest, the “more to learn.” We can always stand on this soil.

Then we can “shed this skin I’ve been tripping in/never to quite return.” For we continually change as we grow into our new found successes, even if that entails healing from scrapes or bruises along the way. Let’s stretch our wings as they allow to see how we soar. Remember there is always more than what meets the eye as we don’t see one’s full reach in one glance.

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The Absence Of Success

20 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by KaylasOnlyHeart in Essay, Journal

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big picture, Cameron Crowe, career, Elizabethtown, failure, fiasco, future, loss, Martin Luther King Jr, movie, perseverance, perspective, risk, road trip, smile, success, work

Tonight I have had the pleasure of watching one of my all time favorite movies. In Elizabethtown, Cameron Crowe paints such a beautiful picture of failure and loss. Drew Baylor finds himself facing a failure at work categorized as a fiasco, a failure of mythic proportion, right as he finds out his father has died. By the end, he embraces his carefree, deep spirited love interest Claire’s mantra to “fail big and stick around. Make them wonder why you’re still smiling.” It’s all about perseverance to get that success.

While I haven’t exactly faced failure in the same sense and haven’t experienced any significant loss lately, I still want to take that philosophy with me on my journey to improve my career and life right now. Recently, I have interviewed for a position at a company that sounded like a job I’d absolutely love and was in the perfect location. I have since found out that they have decided to choose another candidate. Not having that kind of job secured makes it more difficult for me to determine my living arrangement. All I can do is keep pressing forward, and that’s what I do. Part of that means I have to take a seemingly greater risk by moving prior to landing my dream job. At least I can transfer my retail job to whichever store I choose.

The area I choose may ultimately be the landmark of my “success.” On his way home from his father’s funeral, Drew honors his promise to Claire to take a road trip across the country. As he starts in Kentucky, he visits special places on the way back to Oregon. One place of particular interest involves the music scene in Memphis, Tennessee. The screen shows signs for big record companies and posters with Elvis. He stops to talk to a bar owner after eating a bowl of the world’s best chili. Drew even stops to visit scenes of tragedy, including the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and the survivor tree in Oklahoma City. This mix of success, failure, and tragedy culminate the movie’s theme that the bigger picture always extends far beyond the scope of a current failure, even beyond a fiasco. As the movie points out, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “death was only the beginning of his success.” Maybe the fiasco at work is merely the beginning of Drew’s success. Either way, he maintains his smile and pursues a relationship with Claire and moves forward after losing his previous job.

I too keep smiling through the potential disappointment of not getting jobs for which I interview. The odds always are greater that I will not hear back from a company after filling out an application, let alone get an interview. Yet the odds only go up when I fill out another one. Keeping a smile on my face, I appreciate the situation in which I find myself and my determination to take efforts to increase my odds and make my environment the best it can be for myself. That perseverance will get me my next job one of these days.

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You can't make advances if you don't take chances. These posts share my perspectives of my journey as I step forward, walking in the Light.

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