What Direction Are You Going?

I took this picture while at a family reunion near Durango, Colorado and thought it was a nice illustration for this topic.  Do you sometimes wake up on a new day and wonder where you're going in life?  Or whether it's the direction you want to go?  Like Cheshire the cat told Alice in Wonderland when she asked, "which way I ought to go from here?"  He said, "if you don't much care where you want to get to, it doesn't matter which way you go."   Alice told him she didn't much care, "as long as she got somewhere."  Cheshire replied that she was sure to do that if she walked long enough.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to walk this life without knowing where I'm going because I might not like the destination.  We should all have a roadmap in life, just like having a map we take on a road trip.  It's the same with the train in this picture - it has tracks to follow, or it wouldn't get very far.

This all sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?  If it's so simple, I wonder why most people don't do it  (including me for most of my life).  I read recently that 97% of the population do not take the time to set goals.  What's amazing, though, is that if you find someone really successful in life, you'll also find that they are one of the 3% who can recite their goals without hesitation.  

If you know where you're going today, and if you know what you are going to do when you get there, then ask yourself why.  If you can answer that question pretty easily, then ask yourself if your answer satisfies you.  Is it going to satisfy you next year?  What about in five years?  Twenty?  If not, then what other plans do you have to get yourself to the place you want to be?  

These are important things to think about unless you want to be like Alice and not much care where you are going just as long as you "end up somewhere".   If you'd like to have a little more control in determining your destination...you can begin today.

Lessons Learned

Each new year provides time to reflect and learn from our experiences and the experiences of others.  I started writing them as a way to record and keep up with my lessons but I decided that maybe someone else could be encouraged or enlightened by some of them.   With that, I share these lessons learned in past years.

1.      No matter how many people you lose, and no matter how much grief you feel, life still goes on.  To keep their memory alive, we should improve something in ourselves that we liked about that person.

2.      No matter what you do, God still loves you.  Sounds like a cliché, but at 48, I’m just now beginning to digest it.  There is now way to humanly measure or understand the endless love God has for us, and that’s the only reason we need to feel blessed, every single day.

3.      Friends are more precious and valuable than money or position…which means I’m filthy rich.

4.      That everyone everywhere has some kind of hurt or pain in his or her life.  So that gives all of us plenty to do.

5.      Regardless of how much we think we’ve learned, there’s always room for more.

6.      If we keep being taught the same lesson over and over, then we must not have learned it very well the first time.

7.      There aren’t enough hours in the day to do all that we want.  As we get older, those hours seem more like minutes.

8.      I can swallow a handful of pills in one gulp but I still gag when trying to swallow a little dose of pride.

9.      Everything you may be planning for your life may not be compatible with God’s plans.

10.   Our gifts were meant to be revealed, not hidden.

11.   Some of the most important things you can control are:  your attitude, your word, your mouth, your temper, and your actions.  It makes the things you can’t control less important.

12.   Our goals and priorities may change if we pray, read the bible, and think about God daily.

13.   You can never please some people no matter what you do or how hard you try.  So recognize it and move on.

14.   To love means to sacrifice.

15.   One of the hardest things to do is forgive AND forget.

16.   God dwells in our heart and we should take special care of it.

17.   Without good health, our priorities will change dramatically.

18.   A good belly laugh is still one of the best medicines.

19.   My favorite things in life remain the same:  the smell of rain, the warmth of a fire, an ocean breeze through the hair, a brisk walk, the lick of a puppy, the glow of the sun, a flower in bloom, cuddling a baby, fresh cookies from the oven, a genuine hug, a feel-good movie, a song, a book on a Sunday afternoon, and hearing the words “I love you”.

20.   And last, if everyday of our lives was treated like Christmas, we would be more sensitive, caring, giving, and in awe of the real reason for our existence.