I’m a stalker huge fan of contemporary cartoonist Hugh McLeod, whom many of you may know on Twitter as @GapingVoid. I love the way he looks at the world and the succinct way he presents ideas that you can’t help but identify with instantly.
I came across the image at the top of this post many years ago while struggling with some personal and professional decisions and it captured the essence of my situation perfectly. I’d gotten it into my head that I could have everything I ever wanted, if only I could figure out how to put the pieces together the right way.
Hugh’s cartoon made me realize I was looking at things the wrong way. I was never going to be Mother of the Year, Freelancer of the Year, Friend of the Year, Partner of the Year, etc all at once. All I could be was the best person I know how and hope for the best. Maybe I’d be Lisa of the Year.
The sliver I chose way back when seemed so tiny at the time that I wasn’t sure it was even worth it. Today, that sliver is enormous. I have choices and opportunities that I never expected, plans and goals that I know I can reach, people in my life who encourage me every step of the way, and a future that’s never been more exciting.
I chose my sliver wisely and you know what? I feel like I really do have it all.
I have to say I disagree. I was going to disagree in the comments here, but at about the 10,000th character, I decided it might be best if I made it a blog post of my own. So I did: http://goo.gl/Gje07.
I was just wondering if Justin was planning on all of those characters in his response, or if they just flew off the tips of his fingers? I’d suspect they just flew.
As someone who’s tried to figure out what he’s wanted to be when he grows up, and I still don’t know 40 odd years later. I can relate to that. – I’m still trying to re-invent myself.