Recently, I stayed up a little late one night working on a project that must be completed in some near final form by Monday. Today is Friday. Yesterday was Thursday. Of course, that makes tomorrow Saturday.
Guest arrive today and the house is ready. Our schedule is loaded for the weekend and it is tight for a lot of things to get completed. Forget about adding one more task to the schedule!
I cannot dwell on tomorrow because the work of yesterday is spilling over into today. Click To TweetIn fact, in times like these, all my days seem to be a blur. Nothing wraps up as completed on a single day but seems to spread out over a three day period of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. That never-ending cycle of Past, Present, and Future. You know, the instructions on the shampoo bottle, Wash, Rinse, Repeat. They never tell you when to get off that train!
It may be like that song we sang in the car as kids…
Rabbit ain’t got no tail at all, tail at all, tail at all
Rabbit ain’t got no tail at all, just a powdered puff.
Same song, second verse, could get better but it’s gonna get worse…
Then repeat the song to Ad nauseam (the point at which what you are discussing too much brings a bit of nausea!) until you’re tired of the jingle, words, and giggles. At least, 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall had an ending!
I share all of this to answer a question put to me in a webinar this week.
Why are you here? What’s your purpose? Is what you are doing fulfilling your reason for existence?
You know these kinds of questions! Life changing, or life-affirming. The answers contain wisdom in attempting to identify the rat race we have joined and can we make sense of the reason we started running. Is there a destination, or are we simply running because everyone else is? Are we simply a lemming that is running toward the cliff just because everyone else is doing it? Does this race have a purpose? Or can I bail off the tracks of the masses and strike out through my own life as my purpose unfolds?
What drives me?
What makes me content with the work I’m focused on?
If money, time or burdens were not the weight keeping me running as I’ve always run, then what would I want to do that makes sense for me?
Now. Before anyone calls for emergency services to do a wellness check, I am of a firm opinion that these kinds of thoughts, questions, and answers are the sign of a mind that has no problems asking tough questions and digging out the tough answers. It’s a periodic quest we should all experience to help keep our focus. Some call it a retreat, annual planning conference, or, as with me, it’s a morning spent digging as deep as time allows, file away the results and revisit during vacation!
Question: What does your compass say? What have you mapped in your life and turned over to the GPS system and is it taking you where you planned, or is it a little off course? Has the destination changed? And if so, have you updated the maps of life that will get you where you want to go? Is that internal Gyroscope tweaked for top performance?
Answer: I plan for the future. I analyze my recent past and the direction of my life, and I plan for the future.
But planning without action is ludicrous - and is often called Analysis Paralysis. Click To TweetIt’s probably a sign of some form of the laziness disease. You can do part, but not all because all requires discipline! And discipline requires effort until it becomes part of your daily routine. You know, that part of your life that just functions without thought.
At the same time, acting without a plan is a similar disease. It’s called irrational behavior. It gets you into trouble and desperately far from normality.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ~Benjamin Franklin
Summation: I read, study, think and ask important questions. The answers are on a worksheet that allows me to revisit them time and again and make sure I’m headed in the right direction. If the answer is too cryptic to understand in the future then I did not do a good job of analyzing the problem, documenting the parameters, planning for the future, and writing the objectives and goals required to know I’ve arrived!
Here’s my thought today. I believe, as a created being, there is a purpose for each of us. We have been given a great gift of life and talent to accomplish the great possibility! But this present life presents obstacles that we must control or either be beat down by them. That rock in the river generally stands still while the water flows over and around – that’s the way I want to look at obstacles. They are simply opportunities to determine my course!
God spoke to Israel with a phrase I’ve used often in my planning cycle of life.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)
God knows. There is a future. There is hope. There is peace. I just need to keep my focus on that direction.