Sometimes life feels just like a river - it flows in a direction and unless you actively seek to chart a course you will just end up at the destination to which it brings you. I don't want life to decide where I wash up - I want to be disciplined, intentional, motivated and successful. And then I get home from work and sit down in front of Netflix, Disney, or the latest game I've downloaded on my phone. But this needs to stop - I need to get out of the flow. I was created for far more than to simply end up at a destination. But how do I get out of this flow? That is the question I have been asking but here’s the thing: I think it’s the wrong question. I don't think that getting out of the flow is one moment of high energy, demonstrating boldness and energy to strive against the current and drag my aching body onto the shore. Because if life is this river I'm not looking to get out of life - I am seeking to direct where life takes me. And direction is continuous.
I am realising that to be disciplined, intentional, motivated and successful I must wake up every day and make good choices. Because the choice I make today will affect who I am tomorrow and where I am next week. If I want life to take me down a stream of wealth, then I don't make one exhausting surge that sets me up for life. I wish it was that easy - but instead I must make sustained adjustments. Don't buy dinner out that night, work that extra shift, start that business, make that investment, create a plan for growth, make time to read and develop. If I want to wash up on the shore of a successful relationship, I must make the daily decisions that direct me there - the first of which perhaps being that I find someone to teach me what they learned the hard way. Is this the gem of truth I have been searching out for years? The secret to success is not in a moment but in continual moments?
Easy to read and agree with - but then comes the hard bit. Life is moving - and sometimes (frequently) these persistent adjustments to your course involve moving against the flow. Then I become tired, decide to rest - and this river begins to pull me back into the main current where everyone else is. I don't want to be in the same place as everyone else. But if you aren't moving in the direction you want to be then you are moving away from it. And what if you don't know where you are moving? Well you better hope your following someone pretty dam smart with the same life goals as yourself.
SO this is a reminder - to myself, but perhaps to you as well, that the decisions we make matter greatly. The small moments when no one is watching will define our lives and our destinations. So, make good decisions, keep doing good even when it feels hopeless or pointless, keep pursuing, keep going. One day you will find yourself on a shore of arrival and I hope it’s the one that you desired to be on.
(original post December 12, 2019)
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