I heard a quote that’s been attributed to anonymous (the coward :-)), but it’s been really plaguing me lately. It goes like this:
“If you can clearly see your own path, you can be sure it’s someone else’s.”
Wait! What?!
I thought the whole idea of great leadership was clarity of vision, seeing the outcome–you know, that whole “If you can see it you can be it” thing. Now Mr/s Anonymous is telling me that if I see it, it’s actually someone else’s path?! Crap! Now where does that leave us?
I’ll tell you where.
It leaves us in the bold, scary, exhilarating place of not knowing, right smack dab in the intersection of courage and possibility.
There’s power in this quote, and the more I sit with it, the more powerful it gets. It’s the idea that you can’t clearly see what doesn’t exist. Our future doesn’t exist. And if you think you know exactly where your path is heading, in every excruciating detail, as if it’s already occurred, chances are it has–and you’re actually looking at someone else’s vision. Someone else’s path that’s already happened.
How else could you see it so clearly?
Though it may feel otherwise, this inherent uncertainty is a blessing, a prompt, if you will, a nagging spark of insatiable curiosity. Feed the flame. Discover what it will illuminate.
