Follow Your Own Path...

Paths, roads and routes are pretty unique things. On the one hand, there’s only a finite number of ways to get from Point A to Point B. But there's about a bazillion different combinations when you add a stop at Point C, or when you just want to take your time, or when you want to take the 'scenic' route, or when you run into something you didn’t expect…
Even if we share a common destination, our personal paths are going to be different from person to person. Maybe we got a late start, or maybe there was a traffic jam.
Or maybe we’re all just different people with different goals, different baggage, and different perspectives.
Life is a unique adventure for each of us. No two people live the same life the same way, and I’m sooo thankful for that! Sure, some of us have similar experiences along the way; we develop similar interests and passions that help us find commonality with others. But each one of us is as different and unique as our own fingerprints.
Sometimes I start to wonder how other people “succeed” (air quotes totally intended) while I “struggle.” It can be pretty tough to watch other bands and other performers get great gigs that I just can’t seem to get. And sometimes it gets me jealous; I freely admit that. But then — thankfully — I’ll snap out of it! That ugly, green, petty envy monster is destroyed when I remember that I’m not on the same journey as other people. They’ve got their path, and I’ve got mine. And those other bands and other performers are my friends; they’re my community! I'm happy for them -- I get excited when they succeed — I want us all to succeed!
But you've got to be real. Don’t let other people define what ‘success’ means to you. Don’t compare yourself to others in order to determine what your ’success’ should look like. When you do that, you always fail. If you want to measure success, try comparing the ‘old’ you to the current you.
Succeed. And do it your way.