Oh the places you’ll go… when pursuing mastery

         I was reading Dr. Seuss’s “Oh the places you’ll go” to Cillian last night, and realized I had to write a blog about it. There is so much in this children’s book that relates to the journey of mastery.

         I found this excerpt is pertinent to a lot of mastery journeys: You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you’ll will top all the rest.

        Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.  I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you.  You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a lurch.  You’ll come down from the lurch with an unpleasant bump.  And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a slump.  And when you’re in a slump, you’re not in for much fun.  Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

        You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.  A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!  Do you dare stay out? Do you dare go in?  How much can you lose?  How much can you win?  And IF you go in, should you turn left or right… or right-and-three-quarters? Or maybe not quite?  Or go around back and sneak in from behind?  Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

        You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind  on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear toward a most useless place.  The waiting place… for people just waiting…. But no not you!

       It’s so true that on our journey there will be times where we will be flying high, making new insights and have a soaring trajectory.  Other times we’ll be in a slump and in that dreadful waiting place.   But by keeping on, keeping on we will find ourselves out of that slump and be back on our way.  I think all we really have to do is decide that we want to keep in pursuit, and then things will begin to happen and happen to you.