Michael was at a conference last week when officers were elected for the organization’s new program year. As is the case with any election, campaigning for the next set of elections began as soon as the newest officers were installed. Only as with most volunteer organizations, the campaigning wasn’t done by future candidates, but by the outgoing officers looking for next year’s potential officers.
The most often heard why not? “I wouldn’t know where to begin!” The most common answer to that? “You’ll figure it out!”
Stop and think of how many important roles you have assumed, how many monumental steps you have taken, and had no idea how to do, that in retrospect now look easy. Starting with that first step.
You probably don’t remember it but once upon a time, you could not go from Point A to Point B without somebody’s assistance, even if those two points were just on opposite sides of the same room. Yet one day, without practice or knowledge of biomechanics, you lifted yourself onto those 2 legs and took your first step. You figured it out.
Most of life is run on a “you’ll figure it out” basis. First job interview, from either side of the desk. First marriage proposal, from either side of the ring. First kiss. First dance. First child. First loss of someone you love. Life doesn’t come with a manual. It comes with someone older and wiser whom you trust and look up to, telling you, “You’ll figure it out.”
It does not sound like a recipe for success, but not knowing how to do something is not a good reason to not try. Popsicles, penicillin, and potato chips are among the myriad of items invented or discovered by accident. Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, and Mel Gibson never auditioned for their respective breakout roles. Had it not been for three inventors figuring it out, we’d not have tea bags, Post-It Notes, or microwave ovens. An argument can almost be made that going into a project with a fully developed plan is not often as successful as just figuring it out.
We don’t suggest going blindly into every major project you undertake, hoping it will workout. We do suggest taking risks, pushing envelopes, add a little adventurous audacity to life. What’s the worse that can happen? You’ll figure it out.
So true! "Figuring it out" is one of the challenges we face every time we wake in the morning. Life isn't orderly or predictable but it will keep moving forward. The accidental inventions that have happened because someone was alert to see possibilities in the unexpected. Instead of regretting what didn't work out the way folks anticipated, they made lemonade out of lemons. They understood that opportunities present themselves at odd times in odd ways. We just need to figure it out!