There are a lot of good quotes out there. I have actually mentioned several and written about them. Some I also find a bit ridiculous, and it seems like they show up in a news feed just because of the person who said them. Others are deep but not always practical. They’re the kind of wisdom that is true, but life gets busy, and we react before we have time to think about it.
Take Marcus Aurelius, for example. In Meditations, he wrote:
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
— Meditations, Book VIII, Section 47 (George Long translation)
That’s a powerful idea. We often summarize it today as, “Control what you can and don’t worry about the rest.” It sounds simple enough, and I try to live by it, but I’m not always successful. I suspect most people aren’t. We know it’s good advice, but very few of us actually make it a cornerstone of how we live.
Since this is a quote thing, I decided to go with one I like because it is practical. It can be applied with nothing more than a change in mindset. It isn’t something you have to spend years consciously working on because of some major life issue.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
— Wayne Gretzky
In hockey, it means exactly what it says. If you don’t shoot, you can’t score. But I think it applies just as well to everyday life. Apply for the job. Learn the language. Start the blog. Take the trip. Try something new. If you never take the chance, the outcome is already decided.
Maybe that’s why it’s one of my favorite quotes. It isn’t complicated, and it doesn’t require hours of reflection to understand. Just get up every morning, do your best, take your shot, and see what happens.
Looking back, retiring, moving to Brazil, and starting this blog all began with taking a shot. None of them came with guarantees, but none of them would have happened if I had decided it wasn’t worth trying.
Thanks for reading BeingKevin.
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