What Matter's Now?

You failed. You messed up. No matter how much you soak in disappointment or despair, life will not stop for you. The sun will still tomorrow. The music will still play, and the beat goes on. So what matters now? Rhythm. It’s what makes or breaks a dancer. You may have the ability to count the most intricate beats, you may have the most graceful pirouettes, you may have lightning fast footwork, or you may have the crunkest moves the street has seen, but if you don’t have rhythm you have nothing. Even when your foot slips, your heal breaks, and you mess up, if you mess up on beat, you still look fly…and now you just have a whole new dance move. Life is nothing but a mind blowing, heart stopping, oh my God…I think I’m about to blow my speakers out kind of beat. Listen to the beat. When you’re done, listen to it again…because this beat never stops. Do not let the beat be your master, and do not try to make the beat your servant no matter how much your pride insists on it. Let the beat sink into your bones, and wait…make sure you still here it thumping. Have the courage to let it sink deeper into your into your heart, and then let it marinate your soul. As your body effortlessly moves in a trance with the beat, you will feel the rhythm you were made to dance to. It does not matter how badly you mess up or fail in life. Just listen to the beat. All that matters is that you keep dancing with your rhythm. If you feel lost, take the intensity down and do the “white boy shuffle” for a minute. If you have truly found your own rhythm, it will come back to you. You will fall on beat, and your failure will become a part of your dance. Rhythm. Be grateful for it. Without this beautiful gift, your failure has no hope of redemption. Right now I have failed. I have fallen and I have messed up. What matters now? The unyielding strength of my Rhythm. So failure where is your sting? You might be strong, but I am stronger. Your resulting shame might last long, but I can dance longer. I will not try to pretend you do not exist, or avoid your consequences. I will let you dance to the beat, but you will do it with my rhythm, and this rhythm will redeem you. Failure, when I am done with you, I will have an awesome new dance move. I will not stop dancing, because the beat will always go on.

Amrutha Renganathan