The Arrow: Pulling Yourself Back

Being aimless is a dangerous thing.

You have this immense pressure on yourself that you feel weighs you down. It’s like every time you have a big bright idea or huge waves of happiness and inspiration Life knocks you: You broke up with your partner, you got fired from your job, you gained weight, you became depressed, you lost a good friend in your life, and then oops: You dropped your arrow.

You have no idea how to pick it back up. Where to aim. You lose sight of your priorities, your values are misaligned, and your eyes are both open but your sight is out of focus.

It’s when we’re sitting at our lowest point we realize what our point truly is.

So we pick up the bow again.

Sometimes we think it’d be best to be safe and not shoot the shot we really want because what if we don’t get very far? What if the target we so desperately want to hit comes up short? Well, sometimes, we just aren’t strong enough yet to pull back that big goal. If we miss it the first time, fine. We need to get stronger by shooting other bows first. Which means we need to put down the bow we used to love the most, the bow that showed the world how strong we really were, and try aiming with a new bow.

You draw the new bow string back, and back, and back and then it begins to get difficult because the further you draw the string back the heavier it begins to feel. It’s almost discouraging but as soon as you let go, all of that effort in pulling it back, no matter how hard or even painful it felt on your finger tips, the further it will propel that arrow forward. You're so proud of how far it went to hit the mark that you don’t even register the throbbing pain of your arm, the white marks from the string indenting so deeply on your fingertips, the pain of your upper body from holding that heavy bow. The exhale that you finally allow to escape your chest feels something like a Justice finally getting the verdict. The arrow may not have hit the bullseye, but you don’t really care, because you know that no matter what, after that shot was sent, despite the weight, you let go.

Letting go is when all of our goals go further than we could ever imagine. Then again. And again. And again. We get stronger each time, we get further each time. We get closer to that bullseye each and every time. Instead of wishing you could have picked up the arrows of the past and done “better” you appreciate where they have fallen.

Time is now allowed to pass with many arrows flying high and far, magnetizing to any and every mark you desire. “Can I use my old bow again?” is a thought that flashes through your mind. You realize you have gotten stronger than you once were before but this new bow is steady. The urge to go back to what was once comfortable is no more because you’ve embraced the new flow of your body, mind, and spirit. A new way of living. It wasn’t the bow that made you successful, it was the passion that you felt for the call you heard inside of you that urged you to be your best. You pick up the old bow for old time’s sake but you realize, it doesn’t fit your mold anymore. You smile as you set it aside and appreciate it, like all of the fallen arrows it sailed before, and you carry on shooting higher and further shots.