It was another late night of lazily watching television when it appeared. It flew in, uninvited and unannounced, and I immediately took up arms. I found myself holding a slipper in one hand and a Swiffer in another, simply waiting.

"Waiting for what?" I wondered, and I mentally responded to myself with, "The right moment." Then long forgotten was the bug incident, because I was struck with realization:

When was it?

When was the right moment to act on something I needed to do?

More often than we would like, we've all experienced a few face offs with these miniature creatures, and it's safe to say that for most of us, each encounter strikes fear into our hearts.

For me, it is specifically that moment where I lock eyes and wait with bated breath for the right moment to strike, praying that that insect doesn't make any sudden attempts at escaping my clutches and into the abyss of the unknown, never to be seen again, that causes my heart to race and my palms to sweat. And ironically, it was in one of these tense and nerve-wrecking moments that I realized that life was very much a macro version of this scenario.

Much like there's no large "GO" sign that alerts us that the most opportune moment to exterminate the bug is at that exact moment, there isn't going to be a magical green light telling us that the coast is clear to begin a new venture in your life.

We all know this. We are all well-aware.

Yet, we still constantly find ourselves hesitating, and it dawned on me that our hesitation is brought about from fear rather than reason. We weren't brought into this stand-still because of our fear of the bug itself, but because of our fear that we might miss and it could end up flying away and disappearing somewhere inside our homes.

Alternatively, many people hold back from truly living and from pursuing their passions with the pretense that they are waiting for "the right moment". And while some may, in fact, be waiting for a position to open up or waiting for a go ahead from someone else. Many of us simply leave our dreams as just that- dreams- because the fear of failing was much too intimidating and overbearing. Many of us are terrified of taking the first step because of the various factors that could go awry, and ultimately, because the daunting fear of the resulting failure leaves us immobilized and unable to proceed. But I must specify even further that it is not a fear of failure itself, but of what a failure would signify: the meaning we place on it, and the meaning others give to it.

However, in retrospect, we must look back and recall that we didn't kill that fly, moth, etc. on our first try... or even our second, unless you're as skilled as Mister Miyagi from "Karate Kid", and can capture it with chopsticks. But I'm sure that even he missed a lot before reaching that level of mastery. But the point is, once we missed and it escaped, we probably continued to search for that annoyance and started all over again.

Life is very much like that. More likely than not, we won't succeed on our first try. I mean, it's our first try. The concept itself means an attempt, a trial, and not a definitive action. And it's not just going to be on our first attempts; throughout our life we're inevitably going to fail, somehow, some way, and to some degree. But what differentiates a "failure" from an "experience" is our perseverance. It's only going to be considered a "failure" if we don't keep trying and leave it as that. And on the other hand, that failed attempt can quickly become an experience just by getting up and trying again.

Life isn't easy, and taking that first leap, failing, and turning that failure into an experience for our next try, is all part of learning and growing as a person. Taking that initial step towards our goals is significant. And we should remember that the fear of the fall shouldn't stop us from taking the journey.

We'll fail, but I believe that we'll be smarter and stronger when we dust ourselves of and rise again in front of a novel task or situation. Take me for example, in order to find the perfect bug exterminating method, I had to try different slippers and cleaning products to discover a system that worked for me. On a grander scale, we have to try various things in our lives in order to grow. We can't move forward if we're afraid to place our foot one step ahead. We can't run towards our hopeful futures if we're stuck still hiding in our comforting pasts. Down this road of unknown timing and uncertain, foreign obstacles, we will constantly be faced with challenges and new, scary experiences, but I can guarantee you, the end result will be fruitfully rewarding.

We will hesitate, and sometimes we will end up running away. But much like bugs are persistent and continue to enter our homes, our dreams and the cyclical reality of society will find its way to remind us of our hidden desires again and again. The bug won't disappear unless we chase it out or kill it, and likewise, our problems won't go away unless we do something to fix it; our dreams can't be fulfilled if we don't climb the ladder towards accomplishing them. There may be unforeseen circumstances (ie. items in your way, screaming siblings, terrible aim) and challenges (ie. more intelligent bugs who fly quickly and hide in good spots), but we can overcome them one step at a time.

Hesitate before acting, but not because of fear of failure. Hesitate in order to find the best plan of action. Hesitate in order to reflect on progress and future plans, in order to wind up and put 110% into that swing. Go all in with everything single choice, every single action. Seize the moment. If a mistake, an error, or a big time mess up happens, learn and try it all over again with that newly found knowledge. And I am certain that that hard work, determination, and persistence will help catch that bug...or that dream (whichever you prefer).