Life's Trajectory

I’m writing this at 34,000 feet. I’m on my way to Dallas for Agile 2012, my first national conference. How did I get here? Several years ago I was a supervisor of a business area at my company when I checked the job postings. I read the Business Analyst position with interest, having never heard of the role before. Within a year, I was on a newly formed agile team with a coach that would change my life forever.

Where would I be if I had not been curious about this unknown job in unfamiliar IT territory? What if I resisted this agile coach’s advice because he was a “contractor”? How much less would I have learned if I refused to drive out of town to work with our offsite team or attend a regional conference? 

Intentional or not, each of our lives is on a trajectory toward something. Along the way we make choices that impact the arc that is our lives. Should we listen to a peer and shift our angle a bit? Can we allow for diversions that might slow us down, but expand our knowledge? Do we need to go full-speed ahead at the risk of burning out? Could we back up and start over? Should we jump tracks all together?

Interestingly, we think we can control where our actions will lead us. But like the end of the rainbow, the future is always a bit out of sight. So we can point our lives in a direction and try to make forward progress, but external factors will always influence our speed and path.

 And “external factors” are what life is about! This trip to Dallas is the culmination of 2 years spent being more open to what life has to offer. So I’m not worried about planning every session and every day. My only plan is to learn as much as I can and to meet whomever I’m meant to meet. Based on my experiences so far and the exceptional people that I’ve already met, I think my trajectory is heading toward a pot of gold.