“Just focus, and keep aiming.”

I’m really digging arrows lately. Maybe that sounds way too I-haven’t-had-my-morning-coffee-yet, but hear me out. The symbolism behind arrows just rocks my world, and I can’t think of a better way to literally fly into this week. Enter today’s Monday Mantra:

An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards

Isn’t. That. Awesome. This quote has been Pinterest-popular for quite awhile now so it’s no new news, but I still can’t get enough of its goodness. I was reminded of it again a few weeks ago, when I was having a quasi freak-the-heck-out moment about school-related stressors again. Surprise, surprise…I’m Type A to a T, way too good at over-expecting things of myself, and way too bad still at just getting over things and truly moving forward. There I am, lollygagging in that what-if zone, where there are five different imaginary outcomes, none of which are ideal and none of which are realistically all that plausible. Usually, that zone just consists of the fears that, 9 times out of 10, don’t come true.

Mondays can be hard for me (and all of us amiright?) because they’re full of the week’s what-if’s. I sometimes start the day just feeling flat-out nauseous with a serious case of the Monday’s. On particularly anxious days, I run to J and my momma feeling like one setback in school – or a few – will mean no job for me post-grad. One setback in a relationship will probably mean the friendship will never work long-term. One setback in blogging? I’ll probably never reach my goals anyway, so I should just quit while I’m ahead. Right?

Nope. No sir. Not right at all.

This brings me back to arrows.

Arrows literally only fly forward after being pulled backwards. It’s basic physics here people, and it’s one of the few things I remember from AP back in the high school day. Whether you like to think of yourself as the archer or the arrow, you won’t always hit the bullseye. Sometimes you’ll come so stinkin’ close, and sometimes, you’ll completely miss the target and you’ll get a dart stuck in your parent’s basement drywall (sorry, Dad). Either way, you pick up your dart/arrow/whatever other metaphor we wanna use here, and you try again. You’re going to be pulled back time and time again, but with time and practice, you’ll get there. You’ll regain focus, you’ll get more clarity, you’ll hone your craft and you’ll aim higher and stronger and fiercer than you’ve ever aimed before. (Excuse any exaggerations in this description, my Katniss is showing now.)

While not every success story comes with an accompanying tale of hardship or difficulty, many do. So on this Monday, wherever you may be and with whatever flavor coffee is floatin’ your boat, I want you to remember this:

It took Henry Ford being completely broke 5 times before before Ford Motor Company.

It took R.H. Macy 7 failed businesses before NYC’s Macy’s.

It took JK Rowling 12 publishing houses before Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

It took Thomas Edison nearly 10,000 tries before the light bulb.

Whatever your difficulty and whatever your stress, let this week be a reminder of all the amazing things you can do by just honing your focus and aiming higher towards greatness. You can – and you will – fly.

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