What Are You Making It Mean?

taylorryannardone
Sep 2
3 min read

I’ll admit it- I’m an… interesting driver.

(We all are in Massachusetts, okay?)

My motto: I’ll get to where I need to be. I never promised comfort, but I will get us there.

I’m… half-teasing.

Naturally, being in Massachusetts, we get a little bit testy out there.

Traffic pops up (FOR NO REASON AT ALL!), people decide to go 40 in a 65- you know, the usual things.

Every once in a while, I catch myself getting a little ahead of myself and veering to the right when traffic hits, just to see what’s going on.

I’m then gently reminded- upon hitting the “bumpies” (rumble strips)—that I’ve veered off a bit.

Rather than making it a spectacle, I recalibrate and head back into my lane.

Now, I'll be honest...this may have happened more than once. (...weekly)

The lesson is the same every time, get back in your lane.

(I'm sure you can imagine where I'm headed with this...)

Years ago, I heard an analogy about this very thing- our journeys.

It’s interesting how when we do “veer off course," we can’t even fathom how we got there, how it happened, or why we ended up where we did. We become nearly despondent about where we've landed.

However...

The rumble strips on the side of the road aren’t meant to scar you for life. They’re meant to guide you back. That's literally it.

If you'd like to wear the badge of "I'm an awful driver, nobody should ever look at me, and my worth lies in the rumble strips", I mean...go ahead.

But I would argue that, perhaps, we don't need to do that.

How many times have you navigated a moment of “failure” and, instead of realigning or pivoting, decided to just… live there?

We’ve all had moments of failure, shame, and plenty of mistakes.

(Hello, life- is that you?)

We’re always trying to see beyond the forest, trying to map out every twist and turn. But true surrender means recognizing that… that will never, ever happen.

Mistakes are part of the path. Why?

Because they teach us.

I know, you hear it all the time. But, there's a reason for that.

A baby doesn’t learn to walk by standing up for the first time and running a triathlon.

It’s messy. As the body falls, it learns how to recalibrate- to find balance- and through repetition, it learns to walk.

Your journey is the same.

Today, I want you to ask yourself:

What am I making it mean?

Look at the data. Ask yourself honestly.

Everything can be used to fuel you forward.

So again: the question becomes-

How can you view this through the proper lens of forward momentum?

As I’ve gone through my own journey, I’ve had the chance to speak with- and listen to- quite a few conventionally “successful” people.

Truthfully, the difference is that they’ve just learned how to be consistent, mentally resilient, and humble themselves enough to ask for help.

If we allow everything to work for us, then even your perceived “failure” can do just that.

So, ask yourself:

What did you learn?
What can you take with you?

We all have things we wish we could do over.

Respectfully- we have to move past that. Glance at it, but don't set up a fortress there.

Life moves, and thank goodness it does.

It would love to take you with it.

I’ll admit it- I’m an… interesting driver.

(We all are in Massachusetts, okay?)

My motto: I’ll get to where I need to be. I never promised comfort, but I will get us there.

I’m… half-teasing.

Naturally, being in Massachusetts, we get a little bit testy out there.

Traffic pops up (FOR NO REASON AT ALL!), people decide to go 40 in a 65- you know, the usual things.

Every once in a while, I catch myself getting a little ahead of myself and veering to the right when traffic hits, just to see what’s going on.

I’m then gently reminded- upon hitting the “bumpies” (rumble strips)—that I’ve veered off a bit.

Rather than making it a spectacle, I recalibrate and head back into my lane.

Now, I'll be honest...this may have happened more than once. (...weekly)

The lesson is the same every time, get back in your lane.

(I'm sure you can imagine where I'm headed with this...)

Years ago, I heard an analogy about this very thing- our journeys.

It’s interesting how when we do “veer off course," we can’t even fathom how we got there, how it happened, or why we ended up where we did. We become nearly despondent about where we've landed.

However...

The rumble strips on the side of the road aren’t meant to scar you for life. They’re meant to guide you back. That's literally it.

If you'd like to wear the badge of "I'm an awful driver, nobody should ever look at me, and my worth lies in the rumble strips", I mean...go ahead.

But I would argue that, perhaps, we don't need to do that.

How many times have you navigated a moment of “failure” and, instead of realigning or pivoting, decided to just… live there?

We’ve all had moments of failure, shame, and plenty of mistakes.

(Hello, life- is that you?)

We’re always trying to see beyond the forest, trying to map out every twist and turn. But true surrender means recognizing that… that will never, ever happen.

Mistakes are part of the path. Why?

Because they teach us.

I know, you hear it all the time. But, there's a reason for that.

A baby doesn’t learn to walk by standing up for the first time and running a triathlon.

It’s messy. As the body falls, it learns how to recalibrate- to find balance- and through repetition, it learns to walk.

Your journey is the same.

Today, I want you to ask yourself:

What am I making it mean?

Look at the data. Ask yourself honestly.

Everything can be used to fuel you forward.

So again: the question becomes-

How can you view this through the proper lens of forward momentum?

As I’ve gone through my own journey, I’ve had the chance to speak with- and listen to- quite a few conventionally “successful” people.

Truthfully, the difference is that they’ve just learned how to be consistent, mentally resilient, and humble themselves enough to ask for help.

If we allow everything to work for us, then even your perceived “failure” can do just that.

So, ask yourself:

What did you learn?

What can you take with you?

We all have things we wish we could do over.

Respectfully- we have to move past that. Glance at it, but don't set up a fortress there.

Life moves, and thank goodness it does.

It would love to take you with it.

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