That happened.
That thing.
That event.
That occurrence.
What-ever-the-hell-it-was?
Okay, now what?
How are you going to respond?
What are you going to do about it?
Does anything need to be done?
Anything beyond letting it go?
Did it even matter?
Should you even care?
Did it make a difference?
Or, did you make it make a difference?
Apologize.
Whatever you did,
Or choose to do now,
Don’t let it stop you.
Accept what is,
Let go of what was.
Learn from it, grow from it, and carry on.
Seth Godin published a post earlier this year called “Ignore Sunk Clowns.” Yes, that’s exactly how I responded too… “What on earth is this one about?”
So, you’ve heard the term sunk costs, right?
Or was that the day you overslept and missed accounting class?
Okay, a sunk cost is money already spent and cannot be recovered. It’s gone no matter what you do. Bummer.
Well, sunk clowns are sort of like that. Only they’re clowns. Like the clown that was supposed to be at your birthday party but didn’t show up. That too, is a bummer.
Seth points out however, an important “But!” That being, “But your friends are all here, and the sun is shining, and you’ve got cake and a game of pin the tail on the donkey ready to go.”
Do you still give a rip about the clown? Are you still bummed out over a stinking clown that’s kind of freaky anyway? Seth asks the all-important question, “How much more of your party are you ready to sacrifice?”
That thing, that event, that what-ever-the-hell-it-was… is a sunk clown.
It doesn’t matter unless we make it matter.
These tiffs that happen between friends, coworkers, family members, what have you… all rarely matter beyond the moment in which they happened. The same principle applies so often when “the thing that happened” is only between you and the occurrence.
When you think about it, no other human is even required. We can fabricate endless whacky behavior all on our own.
Suddenly, you’re certain your career is over, and you’ll never work in this town again.
Suddenly, you can no longer short putt.
Suddenly, you’re never speaking to her again.
Suddenly, you can’t hit that high note.
Suddenly… (fill-in your worry here).
Why lock onto something like that and make it matter infinitely more than it does? Sure, there may be a sting. Is the imagined pain lingering far past the real scream-worthy moment?
Now… to the point of that silly clown?
To consider letting yourself see a non-life-changing-worthy event as nothing more than what it may be… and letting it go.
Ask, “Is my reaction helping?” If it’s not, well then… (fill-in a more rational behavior here)
When we can see these glitches as clowns, as temporary glitches that are unrelated to the cosmic harmony of the universe or even the next thing that’s going to happen to us, they’re easier to compartmentalize.”
–Seth Godin
So, about that thing… does it matter enough to make a train wreck out of it?
Live forward… be untucked.
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Let’s kick this thing around…
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