Having The Goal is Only 1% of End Result
I was feeling kind of generous the other day as I pulled up to a stop light. To my left, there a gentleman standing on the corner holding a slice of cardboard. The sign read, "Trying to get a Home! Any help would be greatly appreciated." I just happen to have a couple bags of food in my car that was intended for a local food drive. I rolled down my window and offered one of the bags to him. He gave me a look I would expect to see on deer in my head lights. He kindly shook his head and said, "Sir, I don't know what I would to with that stuff."
Now it was my turn to be shocked. He wouldn't know what to do with that stuff? Why not?
I have pondered on this a great deal as of late. I wonder how many people there are in the world who, like this gentleman, have a goal, but don't know how or are not willing to do what is needed to reach that goal.
I digress back to my analogy of golf.
When one is stand at the tee box, this little yellow flag or the hole in which it reside, is the goal. I have narrowed it down quite a bit. To get to the green, I would like you to try and envision how many different paths one could follow to get to the green. Note that all of those paths lead to the same goal. Now look at this green. How many places can that little white ball land. Again, how many different paths are there, once on the green, to get to the goal?
There are more than one could count. Like each individual trying to obtain the same goal. We are different in countless ways. We see the goal. We talk about the goal. We know where it is. The question that most of us forget about is HOW? How do we get there?
I am learning that unless we can figure the HOW out, we will just keep getting what we are getting. If you ask any athlete HOW they arrived at their skill level, you will rarely hear any of them say, "Oh, it just comes naturally." Most of them will tell you how many hours they spend each and every day, putting one of the unnumbered origins to the little black hole. Or how many baseballs they swung at, huddles they jumped, volleyballs they set, bumped, or spiked. The list goes on and on. In order for them to reach their goals, they had to focus on as many of the methods, techniques, and/or paths that led to the goal.
So what is your goal? Where are you focused? What are you doing to get there?
If you want a good paying job, you have complete some sort of schooling or training. School or training requires daily study and application. Once you have the good paying job, you must continue learning, studying, and applying yourself to stay current the ever changing world we live in.
If you want a Celestial Family, you must do the little things, the methods and techniques that lead to the same goal. Individually, you must be ever seeking personal witness and testimony through pray, study, and application of what you learn. As a family, you must work together to do the same, helping each other when one might lack. Lifting, growing, and progressing. It doesn't stop when you are baptized, receive the priesthood or priesthood ordinances. It is not enough to just go to church or seminary. You must participate, apply, and share what you learn. Once we get to the temple, we must return again and again that we might receive further knowledge and enlightenment.
Our lives are eternal. Mortality is just a small glimpse of what lies ahead. Once we pass through that narrow path on the celestial green, we will move on to the next tee box and start the process again with a new opportunity to progress.
Wow that is a little overwhelming, but don't sweat it right now. Just focus on doing the HOW, it will lead you to the goal regardless of what angle you approach it from.
Now it was my turn to be shocked. He wouldn't know what to do with that stuff? Why not?
I have pondered on this a great deal as of late. I wonder how many people there are in the world who, like this gentleman, have a goal, but don't know how or are not willing to do what is needed to reach that goal.
I digress back to my analogy of golf.
When one is stand at the tee box, this little yellow flag or the hole in which it reside, is the goal. I have narrowed it down quite a bit. To get to the green, I would like you to try and envision how many different paths one could follow to get to the green. Note that all of those paths lead to the same goal. Now look at this green. How many places can that little white ball land. Again, how many different paths are there, once on the green, to get to the goal?
There are more than one could count. Like each individual trying to obtain the same goal. We are different in countless ways. We see the goal. We talk about the goal. We know where it is. The question that most of us forget about is HOW? How do we get there?
I am learning that unless we can figure the HOW out, we will just keep getting what we are getting. If you ask any athlete HOW they arrived at their skill level, you will rarely hear any of them say, "Oh, it just comes naturally." Most of them will tell you how many hours they spend each and every day, putting one of the unnumbered origins to the little black hole. Or how many baseballs they swung at, huddles they jumped, volleyballs they set, bumped, or spiked. The list goes on and on. In order for them to reach their goals, they had to focus on as many of the methods, techniques, and/or paths that led to the goal.
So what is your goal? Where are you focused? What are you doing to get there?
If you want a good paying job, you have complete some sort of schooling or training. School or training requires daily study and application. Once you have the good paying job, you must continue learning, studying, and applying yourself to stay current the ever changing world we live in.
If you want a Celestial Family, you must do the little things, the methods and techniques that lead to the same goal. Individually, you must be ever seeking personal witness and testimony through pray, study, and application of what you learn. As a family, you must work together to do the same, helping each other when one might lack. Lifting, growing, and progressing. It doesn't stop when you are baptized, receive the priesthood or priesthood ordinances. It is not enough to just go to church or seminary. You must participate, apply, and share what you learn. Once we get to the temple, we must return again and again that we might receive further knowledge and enlightenment.
Our lives are eternal. Mortality is just a small glimpse of what lies ahead. Once we pass through that narrow path on the celestial green, we will move on to the next tee box and start the process again with a new opportunity to progress.
Wow that is a little overwhelming, but don't sweat it right now. Just focus on doing the HOW, it will lead you to the goal regardless of what angle you approach it from.
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