There is a marked difference between those who have designed their own path and those who’ve chosen to rely on the path walked by many before them. The path pioneers, and those willing to impress bare footprint to wade through the unknown understand how to create space and opportunity for themselves to grow and prosper, as do they know the blood, sweat and tears that go into its creation.

They understand what it is to work for something and not be worked by someone in order to get what they want. They’re truly free, free to express and free from having to suppress themselves in order to appease. Free to roam and create a new legacy without having to ask for permission or wait for the hand of someone else’s clock to stop moving before theirs is allowed to start ticking. Importantly (and most importantly at that…) they have the freedom and privilege to make mistakes before they’re bailed out and redirected by their conscience. Yes, failure and space in which to make mistakes is a privilege as it can only be earned through pushing the boundaries of comfort and safe play. I’m not talking about the kind of failure that’s derived from recklessness, but the kind that’s a result of courage and curiosity to persist beyond the stack of odds. The noble quest to be more, ask more, discover more, evolve more, share more, love more, learn more and rely more on your own capabilities is tireless and can’t be overcome if you’re not willing to get a couple things wrong before you know what right feels like. A couple bumps, bruises and scars along the way. It’s the artistry involved in creating your character, and an authentic character lies in imperfections, but when presented as perfection it’s all a lie. All. A. Lie. So Disregard the seemingly perfect person and those living a life of make believe, their characters are brittle and untested. They’re merely disguising their fear by decorating it with fantasy. Instead, regard those who wear their imperfections with pride, for their characters are rich, and their stories need to be told.

Authentic living requires a couple practice Autorotations, simulated emergencies and failures. The training of which is not there to tempt fate, boast skill or award mavericks. It’s there to teach you how to recover. To know when to execute the flare and cushion the landing. You see; you can’t fly with true freedom if you don’t have peace of mind, and peace of mind is confidence. Confidence that you’ve seen yourself manage the seemingly unmanageable.

So fuck it. We all need to stop holding ourselves back because we’re too scared to deal with the consequence of imperfection. We need to stop ourselves from riding the wave of others success through their failure. Instead; we need to be the moon to our own tide and go through all required phases in order to ride a wave generated by the push and pull of our own energy.

We need to embrace the struggles, see the privilege in adversary, the poetry in pain and the art in imperfection. We need to expose our authentic selves entirely, see the virtue in vulnerability and victory as the person we pick ourselves up as after a fall. And a fall, not as societal perception of a failure, but rather an opportunity to practice recovery, and as affirmation that we’re pioneering a path of progress, purpose and power.