CONNECTING THE DOTS

©Apple

In 2005 Steve Jobs gave his infamous commencement speech at Stanford University. It was six years before people would revisit it and hang on every word out of grief. Standing before the nation's next generation of innovators was the genius who never graduated from college. Jobs told the story of how he came to connect the dots of his past and went on to revolutionize technology. 

"None of this", he spoke of the random assembly of his college classes, "had even a hope of any practical application in my life." However, "of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma whatever - because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference."

As I turn 26 years today, Jobs words remind us that we must stop looking to the future to find the answers, instead we shall be present in the now. We shall focus on appreciating the dots and being conscious of our past experiences that have guided us to the exact place that we are in today. We all encounter transitions in our lives, where we struggle to make sense of the dots of our past, but it is up to us to ignore them, or carefully arrange them into a sensible order and crafting them into our story.

It is the belief in your daily actions for the sake of your passion. You may not understand how they will affect your journey today, but have faith in your undertakings and know that at some point you come to realise why destiny has pushed you in this direction. It is about being patience and believing that whatever is happening is happening for a reason. Appreciate the process and believe that things are going to work for you in unimaginable ways.