Last night I was scrolling through TikTok, the way all good stories begin, and came across a video from @maaltoks that changed my perspective on going after the things that we think are meant for us. It turns out, there’s an art to finding a balance between the dichotomies ‘what’s meant for me will come to me’ and ‘I have to work really hard to get what I want.’

In Maal’s TikTok, she uses a viral segment from a podcast Kerry Washington appeared on to equate finding that balance with God’s plan for all of us. Washington used the analogy of trying to catch the bus to describe how our efforts, combined with God’s hand, filter through the experiences, dreams, people, and things that are meant to be part of our lives.

“It’s mine or it’s not.

You pray to catch the bus and then you run as fast as you can.

Because then if you miss that bus it’s not your bus.

But if you don’t run it could’ve been your bus.

And if you don’t pray that could’ve been your bus.

So I try to do both. With all of my work. With all of my faith.

Rejection is God’s protection.”

Something of the same caliber that I heard a few months ago and hasn’t been able to shake from my mind since is the notion that if we view rejection as a weeding out process, then what is there to fear? If the door we worked so hard to open never does, but an even better one reveals itself in its absence, what is there to be afraid of? The possibilities in life are endless. It’s just our responsibility to let go of what’s out of our control and focus on what is. Here’s to unabashedly live the life you’ve always wanted to as the person you truly are deep down.

💘 Hanna