This inspirational post was inspired by the inspirational post Just one more time… over at Bog of Debt.

 

There are a million quotes that I love. I collect quotes on writing, on friendship and family, and all sorts of other things. I keep a copy of the Norton Anthology of English Literature near to hand, with passages from select pieces highlighted in colored pencil (actual highlighters leak through multiple pages on paper as thin as the Norton Anthology needs to use), their pages dog-eared so I can find them easily.

And yet, one of my favorite quotes, one of the quotes I find most inspirational, comes from Douglas Adams and his Hitchhikers Guide series.

Aiming for the ground and missing isn’t about planning to fail or setting your expectations low, it’s about learning from your mistakes, it’s about being open to new experiences and opportunities, even when it seems your path is set.

Let’s start with the fact that “aim for the ground and miss” doesn’t appear to be an actual quote from any of the books. It’s simply the way a lot of people remember a few different quotes.

In the books, Arthur Dent tries over and over again to learn to fly, yet he always ends up on the ground, sore, tired, and covered in bruises. It isn’t until one day when he trips, and happens to get distracted by a butterfly on his way to the ground, that he manages to miss. After that, Arthur isn’t even certain how to stop flying, and he has to fake walking along the ground, by hovering as close to it as he can get and moving his legs.

 

“Flying is simple. You just throw yourself at the ground and miss.” When C was laid off back in 2009, we were tripped up big time. We looked at our financial situation and knew, without a doubt, that we were aimed at the ground. That didn’t stop us from making changes, to try and get things as under control as possible, but we still wouldn’t have made it without a little luck (in this case, the extension of unemployment benefits). But because we had made the effort, had set ourselves on the path to get out of consumer debt, that extension was our butterfly. We had been aiming at the ground, and suddenly, we missed.

We had to do the work to set ourselves up for success. If we had just given up from moment one, decided it was pointless, etc, we never would have gotten to where we are. But good planning, and a little luck (and we all need a little luck), got us into a position where we were in control of our financial future. We were flying.

In fact, we’re still flying. And unlike Arthur, we have no desire to be on the ground ever again.

 

“The art, or rather the knack, of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” In another instance, when I left my job as a medical receptionist back in 2001, I swore I would never work in the medical field again. My job had been high volume, high stress customer service and I never wanted to deal with someone else’s medical problems again. And for the first 6 months or so when I was looking for a new job in 2004, I refused to consider any job in the healthcare industry. But I wasn’t getting any traction. And finally, I allowed myself to be distracted by an office job for a healthcare organization. I applied. They called me for an interview that evening. I interviewed a couple of days later, and then they changed their hiring schedule to accommodate my need to give 3 weeks notice. I was hired as an Admin Specialist. Eight years and two promotions later, I’m a manger with the same company.

 

Amazing things often come into our lives in completely unexpected ways. We find that things we thought were negatives can turn into major positives. We only have to leave ourselves open to the possibilities. In the midst of falling, we have to allow ourselves that moment to be fascinated by the butterfly.

You may think that’s easier said than done, and you’d be right. Arthur shows us that with all of his past failures to miss the ground. We’ve hit the ground more than a few times ourselves. But just because it isn’t easy doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Because the truth is, it just takes that one moment of being open to something new, of letting yourself consider a path you had closed off.

“In order to fly, all one must do is simply miss the ground.”