Lost!

As I was procrastinating on youtube today, I clicked my way through awesome covers that some of my favorite bands and artists have done over some of my favorite bands and artists. For example, Kate Nash’s cover of Fluorescent Adolescent by the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen’s cover of Naïve by the Kooks. There’s something about covers that I love. Maybe it’s how I get to hear something I’ve grown to love altered by another and (hopefully) made even better. Regardless, it was a good day on youtube. And that’s when I stumbled upon John Mayer’s cover of Coldplay’s Lost! So I listened, and it got me thinking, and I thought, “Damnit Coldplay, how do you do it? How do you take lessons that have taken me 23 years to learn and shove them into beautiful melodies?”

In the song, Coldplay (or John Mayer, depending on the version you’re listening to) sings: Just because I'm losing/Doesn't mean I'm lost/Doesn’t mean I’ll stop… Just because I'm hurting/Doesn't mean I'm hurt.

I have smart friends. It’s a good thing, too. Because someone has to compensate for the fact that I’m an idiot. And these smart friends of mine give me great advice; or at least when I’m willing to listen to it. The other day, one of these aforementioned friends told me that, “People spend way too much time obsessing about the outcome and lose focus about the ways that they can grow in the process.” They were right.

Just because it’s not a pretty situation, just because things aren’t going as you expected, just because you’re utterly confused as to what is going on, doesn’t mean it’s a waste. It doesn’t mean that because the result wasn’t a reward or a “success,” the whole thing was worthless. Actually, it’s exactly the opposite.

I’m beginning to realize that the situations I’ve hated most in my life have been the most valuable. Every time I wondered, “what’s the point?” The point jabbed me later. Stop yourself in the middle of whatever’s happening and think, “how can I grow in this process?” Don’t expect anything. Don’t focus on the outcome, don’t consume your thoughts of what’s “supposed to happen.” Instead, live in the mindset that Someone is trying to make you better, faster, stronger…not Kanye, Someone Else.

It’s kinda like He’s making a cover of a song we’ve already made. And believe me, His version is much better.