"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal" -- Hannah More
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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal" -- Hannah More |
         
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Alive & Well ArchivesDecember 2004**************************************************** TODAY'S QUOTE: "Success
is a journey, not a destination” **************************************************** As
we headed off from the base, we all focused on the *destination.*
We had to carry big packs with sleeping bags, clothes, water, food and
survival gear for a couple of days. This
additional weight, plus the steep terrain, made us all excited to reach our hut.
We knew once we arrived, we could take off our packs, sit by a warm fire
and relax. Ah!
It sounded so wonderful. We
would soon be in the middle of nowhere with total peace and quiet relaxing by a
beautiful fire with good friends. No
matter how hard it became to keep going, we re-assured ourselves we would soon
be at our *destination,* and we could enjoy ourselves then.
Well
guess what? We never made it to our
hut. There was a fork in the path
at the bottom of the hill, and it wasn’t clearly marked.
We took the wrong way. We
climbed up the mountain for 3 ½ hours, but when we reached the top, there was
no hut! We searched for a while,
but once it started to get dark, we had to head back down the mountain. It
was very disappointing to climb all that way and not find the hut.
But even worse is that we missed incredibly beautiful scenery along the
way! We focused so much on our
*destination* that we didn’t stop to enjoy our *journey* to the hut.
Many people in the group thought we had failed, because we didn’t reach
the final destination -- our hut. We
climbed steep terrain for 3 ½ hours, yet they thought we failed.
They didn’t consider the *journey* we had just had.
They didn’t consider the amount of willpower and effort it took to
climb what we climbed. They focused
exclusively on the *destination, * and in their minds, we failed. Don’t
we do that in life too? Don’t we
focus on the final goal and not what we learn along the way?
Don’t we say, “I’ll be happy when…. when I’m married.
When I make more money. When
I have kids. When I get a new
house.” Don’t we focus on the
final *destination* and not on the *journey*? What
if you focused on the journey? How
would your life be different? I
believe whole-heartedly in setting goals and having a vision for your life.
I’m not suggesting you don’t have definitive goals you strive to
achieve. But what if you paid more
attention to the *journey* along the way to the goal – along the way to the
*destination*? We
can look at 2004 as a journey. Some
of you may have reached your goals for 2004; you may have made it to your
*destination.* Some of you
may not have reached your goals or achieved your vision.
Either way, what was the journey like?
As you look back over 2004, ask yourself the following questions: *
What did I learn about myself in 2004? *
What did I learn about life? *
What can I be proud about in 2004? *
Whom did I help in 2004? *
Who helped me? *
Even if things didn’t always go my way, what brought me joy in 2004? *
Whom did I love in 2004? *
Who loved me? *
Whom did I meet along the way? *
What were the magical moments in 2004? So
how about it? Are you willing to
focus on the *journey* as well as the *destination*? Happy
New Year! I wish you a year of
happiness, peace, health, prosperity and love! ***************************************************** |
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