The One Proverb I Live My Life By

There’s always that one solution

I spent my childhood hearing the same saying over and over from my mother.

Quand on a pas de tête, on a des jambes.

This translates into “When we have no head, we have legs.”

In French, the term “head” is often used to indicate the brain. For this reason, this is used when you’ve forgotten something to indicate you had to be ready to go back for it.

As a teenager, I often forgot something in my room on the second floor of my house and realized it when I’d reach the ground floor. That’s when my mom would always remind me that if I wasn’t that forgetful, I wouldn’t need to go back up.

I’ve left my parents years ago and still remind myself of this proverb almost every day. It turns out we can apply it to every part of our lives.

Own Your Mistakes

If you forget to buy something in the supermarket, that’s your fault. Go back and buy it.

If you are late for a meeting, it’s your fault. Run and make up for the lost time.

If you make a mistake, go and fix it. It’s that simple.

We often put the blame on other people. We find excuses. We decide things are the way they are. But is all that true?

It isn’t. Life is a combination of all the actions you’ve taken until now. If you take responsibility for your mistakes, you obtain the power to act on them. You regain control of your life. Your mind stops being reactive, it becomes proactive.

Don’t accept things the way they are. Act and change them.

Reframe Failure to Progress

While this proverb wasn’t originally meant in that way, I’ve given it a different purpose as well.

If you cannot think of a solution, walk the path now.

I’ve been writing for a year and a half. My style and thought patterns have both improved but at a slower pace than many other new writers. I’ve thought of ways to improve but have also realized there’s no “one-trick” to become better. Writing combines many skills and some people grasp them faster than others. Since I couldn’t think (head) of a good way to improve faster, I chose the slower path of practice (legs).

Try to think of ways to improve. Learn, develop skills, and use them. But if you fail or struggle along the way, remember that it’s okay. All you need to succeed is to keep moving forward and be patient.

If you keep making mistakes in the language you’re learning, keep studying it and most will disappear with enough exposure and time.

If you can’t seem to master that music sheet, keep practicing it.

If you can’t understand why your friend is sharing something hurtful, keep listening.

Patience is essential. Stay consistent and time will take care of the rest.

You’re Just Human

You’re not one of the Avengers. You’re not from another planet. You’re just a simple person. We all are.

What takes time for you to learn may be easy for someone else. What seems obvious to you may leave someone else puzzled. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Where you have “a head”, others will need “legs”. Where you will need “legs”, others will have “a head”. Nobody’s perfect. That’s the reason why living is so interesting. We can all discover from each other.

Writers take their inspiration not just from their own lives, but also from what they see around them. Innovators imagine new ideas by looking at the world, too.

This is the one part for which we all lack “a head” and instead only have “legs”. We cannot create new thoughts out of thin air.

Your attention shapes your view of the world. The more you tune your mind to notice what’s around you, the easier you will develop your creativity. This will then help you find new ideas.

That, in turn, will help you find more ways to use your head instead of just your legs. You could unlock what seemed like it would take years of practice thanks to one “Eureka” moment.

Use your head and warm your legs for a long trip. On it, keep your eyes open. Solutions are waiting for you to notice them right now.