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  • Michael Edmondson

Are you open to learning new lessons?


Today is October 15 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you leave room for the next lesson in your life to enter?”

People who navigate the chaos understand they are responsible for their own education and part of that requires one to remain open to learning.

As musician Tom Petty wrote "You will never be told when the next bit of education is coming or where it's coming from or who the teacher will be. That information will only reveal itself after the fact. All that you can do is leave a little room there for the next lesson to come through. Someone will be carrying it. You just leave the door open a crack.”

In Petty's memoir, Runnin' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, he imparts this great wisdom about life's unpredictability and how everyone should remain open to learning new lessons from unexpected sources. That openness to learning is great, meaningful advice.

When he was 11, Tom had the life-changing experience of meeting Elvis Presley, when his aunt and uncle took him to see Presley filming Follow That Dream in Ocala, Florida. Tom’s parents gave him an acoustic guitar for Christmas when he was 12. He graduated to an electric instrument and began writing his own songs (his first composition was called Baby, I’m Leaving).

Petty formed his first band, the Sundowners, when he was 14, then on his 16th birthday joined the Epics, which later became Mudcrutch. Mudcrutch became a popular local band around Gainesville, Florida and in 1974 they signed a deal with Shelter Records and headed for Los Angeles. After their single, Depot Street, flopped and their newly recorded album remained unreleased, a disillusioned Petty quit Mudcrutch.

After leaving he created Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and released their debut album in 1976. The response in the US was initially muted, but the album was pounced upon by the British music press, who appreciated Petty’s pithy songwriting and the group’s almost punk-like attitude. In his career, Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

In 2002, Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Petty remained open to learning lessons throughout his career. Are you?

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