Do you have to love the process or 2-Hell-With the goal?
Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living.
Out of our over-confidence, fear.
Out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope.
And out of hope, progress.
— Bruce Barton
In answer to the question “how do you get back up on the horse?”, one of our readers, Shoalisme, wrote an interesting response:
Hm-m-m! I never really thought much about that before, but I suppose I don’t ever get ON a horse that I don’t want to ride. It has 2 look pretty fun and pretty gentle…or I just take a pass. I have 2 REALLY believe I want to ride it – and if I get on and discover it’s a buckin’ bronc or a boring old nag, I just move on to something else. I don’t usually look back and regret that I moved on.
For me, life is way 2 short 2 b uncomfortable or 2 push myself towards Continue reading » 2-Hell-With-It?
It’s not that people have bad ideas, it’s that they quit.
— Marvin L. Goodman
Father of Susan G. Komen
Instant gratification, it’s what we’re all about. Most of us want to be rich or skinny or talented or married or divorced… NOW! Human nature being what it is we don’t like to wait for anything. We know that to lose weight healthily, we need to do it over time, gradually increasing our level of fitness and increasing the healthiness of the foods we eat. But, HECK, now that we’ve made the decision, we want the effect to be as close to instantaneous as possible. When it isn’t, we quickly get discouraged.
Some Things Take Time
As Albert Einstein said, “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” The key to making time work for you is to have a vision that is so strong that it pulls you towards it every day. Think about it, we don’t have a problem planning for our Continue reading » Success Through Vision
If you don’t know where you’re going, can you get there from here?
We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves.
— Saint Thomas Aquinas
Recently I wrote about my frustration at not having a vision for going forward: And, as often happens, a teacher (several in fact) appeared… First I came upon a simple e-mail poem that struck a chord:
It is only a tiny rosebud, a flower of God’s design;
But I cannot unfold the petals with these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so easily, but in my hands they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud, this flower of God’s design,
Then how can I have the wisdom to unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in God for leading each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance in each step of the way.
The path that lies before me, only my Lord knows.
I’ll trust God to unfold the moments, just as He unfolds the rose.
— Unknown
Interesting, simple analogies about roses and butterflies are teaching me that I don’t need to figure it all out right now, I can figure it out as it unfolds…
The Power of Intention
Continue reading » Start Somewhere
Sometimes it’s the smallest decision that can change your life forever.
— Keri Russell
This past weekend was the 75th anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous, the group that helps others like themselves by “having one drunk talk to another” and by taking one day at a time. The secret to their success is that they know that little changes come from doing something that we didn’t used to do, every day. Over time the little changes become big changes and we’ve accomplished something that we never knew we could. In this week’s LA Times, a recovering alcoholic told his story.
In the article, Chas relates how he really, really didn’t want to go to his first AA meeting. He had seen AA help his father, his uncle, and his three brothers, but he had lots of reasons it wouldn’t work for him. A friend got him to go to a meeting anyway. He writes: Continue reading » Little Changes Into Big Ones
Have you ever been disappointed at not reaching your goal but somehow found that you were delighted with the outcome anyway?
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?
— Robert Browning
We recently experienced an extraordinary week of rain here in sunny California. And when the weather forecasters declared an end to the onslaught, I decided to indulge in the luxury of taking my car to the carwash. I had an hour to wait so I went for a walk on the river trail. My goal: To the bridge and back.
Disappointment
I didn’t get as far as I expected. At the half hour mark, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bridge, I pushed on… and then on some more… but the bridge continued to hide “just around the bend.” With time ticking, I realized I wasn’t going to get to the bridge – and, disappointed that I’d missed my goal, I reluctantly turned and double-timed it back to the carwash where my clean car awaited me.
I guess it’s human nature to be disappointed when we don’t get as far as we expected. I remember when, back in my corporate days as a sales manager, one of my rookie sales people aimed to be “Top Sales Leader of the Year”. He really put his heart and soul into it. He came in second.
That’s when it pays to remember: Continue reading » Delight over a Missed Goal
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