I’ve been contemplating the concept of Right Person in the Wrong Place, or Wrong Person in the Right Place**, as I’m observing the thriving Okra plants in my garden, while ruminating my Dad’s life story.

You see, my first attempt at sowing okra this year was a complete failure, simply because I sowed the seeds too soon in April. Okra requires warm to hot temperature to thrive, and the chilly early Spring weather rendered the seedlings weak and susceptible to pests. They were, simply put, the Right Person in the Wrong Place. And it wasn’t until my second attempt of sowing them in June did they proliferate quickly, and only one month later, they are ripe for harvest.

My Dad is another bittersweet example of the Right Person in the Wrong Place.  It’s no secret that through all of my stories about his life, if the chips had not fallen the way they did when Saigon succumbed on April 30, 1975, then there is no question he would have become world-famous. He was building an adoring fanbase as a writer, poet, musician, and orator at the height of the Vietnam war. He was on the brink of success and he absolutely deserved it. But Saigon fell, and he became a father and sacrificed his passions to support his family.  He was the Right Person in the Wrong Place.

But there are also plenty of examples of the people who were born into privileged circumstances, who were given all the opportunities and tools they needed to succeed. And yet, somehow they never lived up to their fullest potential, and even squandered away their opportunities, because they still had a lot of internal issues to resolve and lessons to learn. They were in the Right Place, but were the Wrong Person.

And then there’s me, who struggle everyday with Imposter’s Syndrome, who are grateful for all the opportunities that were given to me, and wonder if I possess 1/100th of the talents my Dad and his prestigious lineage had passed down to me.  Some days, I feel aligned and believe that I am finally the Right Person in the Right Place. Other days, I feel like  the Wrong Person who’s doing everything she can to be worthy of this Right Place.

What about you? Do you feel like you’re the Right Person in the Wrong Place? Or the Wrong Person in the Right Place?

**Inspired by Kim Namjoon’s album “Right Place, Wrong Person”.