How many times have you heard somebody tell you that something “isn’t rocket science”? I hear it all the time. It’s usually in reference to one my myriad of mistakes that I’ve made in some area of my life. If you know me, you’ll know that I hear that phrase a lot, based on my plethora of mistakes.
Probably using “myriad” and “plethora” in the opening paragraph there qualifies as two mistakes, but whatever…that’s the mood I’m in today.
So I got to thinking about life and it’s relationship to rocket science. Why do people use rocket science as the reference? I think they use it because they perceive that rocket science is hard. You have to do a whole bunch of things at once, and you have to do all the right things. Shoot a rocket to the moon (especially with astronauts aboard) and be off by as little as 0.01% in your aim and you’ve got astronauts zooming away from Earth with no chance of making it to the moon. Talk about consequences.
But I’m not a shallow thinker. I spend way too much time thinking about really esoteric topics. I think about them deeply. In addition, I love to take cliches and turn them inside out. So I kept thinking about life and rocket science. And I kept thinking. And thinking. Apparently I have more time on my hands than I think I do.
And I came to a conclusion: Life is exactly like rocket science.
Stick with me on this one. If rocket science you do a bunch of work before you start something. Then the “big day” arrives and you shoot your rocket. Sometimes the rocket fails to launch. Sometimes it burns up on the launching pad. Sometimes it splits apart into thousands of pieces. In each of those cases, you learn from the failure and try again. Sounds like life, doesn’t it?
Sometimes, the rocket succeeds in it’s launch and heads off into space, destined for a particular location. Then stuff happens. Wind shear. Micro asteroids. Damage to the rocket. Whatever…stuff happens.
And what does the rocket scientist do? Make adjustments. A nudge this way. A push that way. Speed up. Slow down. Generally, get the darned speeding rocket back on track and aimed to where it’s supposed to be going. All the way to the target little adjustments have to be made.
That’s life. You set out towards a goal, all bright and shiny and new. You know where you’re headed, you’ve made preparations, you’ve got a plan. Then you take off, full of steam, ready to get where you’re going. And stuff happens. It always does. You have to make adjustments. Go a little faster, go a little slower. Left, right, up, down. Constantly nudging yourself along trying to get back to the perfect path. With your eye on the goal you keep working to get there. It’s not smooth sailing. You can’t do this on autopilot, you have to be engaged the entire journey. Every little detail has a lasting impact on your final destination. You have to juggle all sorts of things, priorities, resources, people. You name it, they all have to be coaxed in particular ways for you to achieve your goal. But if you keep at it, you’ll end up where you headed. Sometimes you get to take the “one small step” and plant your flag on the Moon. Sometimes, like the astronauts of Apollo 13, you have to abort the mission and come home…to try another time. But that’s life.
So when you get down to it, life is exactly like rocket science. It takes constant management of everything around you, as well as management of yourself. But it’s a great feeling when you arrive at the goal you set out to achieve. The further out the goal, the more nudging and coaxing you’ll have to do, but it’s worth the effort to achieve your goals.
10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1
Blastoff. Where are you shooting your rocket to today?
