Have you heard the song “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked? It’s quite possibly the most popular song from the hit Broadway show originally sung by the talented Idina Menzel. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely go someday. It is a terrific story of loyalty, overcoming obstacles, and going against the status quo. Confession: Despite being a full-time upper cervical chiropractor in Phoenix, I LOVE musicals and have seen Wicked more than once. Worth it – every single time.
“Defying Gravity” is a ballad and epic song about conquering enemies and overcoming obstacles placed before us. During the performance the song climaxes with Elphaba (the green “wicked” witch) taking her first flight. The scene is incredibly dramatic. Here she is with the bad guys charging at the door to capture her, she says goodbye to her enemy-turned-best-friend, sings an epic song, runs to a high place, and then leaps into the sky and flies off into the sunset. (The theatricality alone during this scene is well worth the price of the ticket by the way).
A friend of mine recently brought this to my attention and I wanted to share it. Think about this: What if Elphaba had failed? This was after all, her first flight.
One potential problem with this scene is that we often think or hope success looks like that. You know, the leap into the sky fly off into the sunset triumphant sort of thing. But most of the time it doesn’t. And it’s important to remind ourselves that that is okay.
Think of Thomas Edison. How many times did he try to make a light bulb? A THOUSAND! How many of those unsuccessful attempts were really a failure? Not a single one. Failure comes when we give up and quit. Every mistake he made was a success because he chose to learn from it and try again and again and again.
Success isn’t a destination we one day arrive at and then sit there and hang out with other successful people. Success is when we choose to learn every day and let whatever we learn inspire us and lead us on to do more and grow more. Success is progression.
So no matter what you are working on right now, this year, and trying to become…..Don’t stress too much about your mistakes. Learn from them and keep moving forward. And go see Wicked when you get the chance! I think you’ll love it.