We got together with my friends and started sharing some stories the other day, and I started thinking of some more on the same theme. The best-selling solo jazz album of all time. My choice of study. Our friends getting and staying together.
These things almost didn’t happen. If Keith Jarrett decided the piano was too painful to play on… If I’d chosen the other city to go to college…if my friend hadn’t come back to that club later that night…
There’s a value to sharing these stories, there’s a reason why we remember the luck, the adversity, the fate.
But there’s another story that can be told each time. Instead of an “almost didn’t happen” story, there’s a “here’s why it DID happen” story.
The Köln concert actually happened because Keith Jarrett loved playing music, and because his young impresario convinced him to play anyway. I ended up in the place I didn’t choose because I had lots of respect for my Dad’s advice. My friends got together because the signals they kept sending that night were strong and authentic enough to get through the noise and the booze.
It’s a story about the same thing. But the emphasis shifts to what went right, to what you did, to what you had going for you.
Needn’t be 100% true. The other ones aren’t either, are they?
Wiktor (Vic) Kostrzewski (MA, DELTA) is an author, translator, editor and project manage based in London. When he works, he thinks about languages, education, books, EdTech and teachers. When he doesn’t work, he probably trains for his next triathlon or drinks his next coffee.
BRAVE Learning (formerly known as 16 Kinds) is a lifelong learning and productivity blog. If you enjoy these posts, please check out one of my books and courses.
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