Encouragement
SS14U2(AT)aol.com
Fri, 9 Oct 1998 15:54:13 EDT
Some encouragement for the group --------------------------------These days
it's so easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of things that we have to get
through everyday. There never seems to be enough hours to get through even
half of what's on the lists that we prepare early in the morning so that by
evening we have weeded through the chores and assignments that are needed to
hopefully progress our lives.The size of the goals and obstacles that confront
us are sometimes so gigantic that the thought of starting each one is
frightening.... but somehow we must. If you've ever stared at a ladder that
you have to climb, looking up to where you must go can seem like an impossible
ordeal. But if that task is broken down into fractions, each step by itself is
much easier to handle....so too is life. If all we do is look at how far the
distance is to our destination it is easy to find reasons to turn back or give
up. If the journey is looked at mile by mile the distance somehow becomes
shorter, because the focus of our measurements is not centered on the whole,
but by twenty-five percent, fifty percent, seventy-five percent, etc. The
journey becomes easier. I don't know if you've found this to be true, but each
year that I get older there seems to be more things to do!! Perhaps it's
because I expect more of myself, and I set higher goals. If one is not
careful, the mountain becomes so high and the excuses too numerous. I guess
you have to be careful not too try to accomplish too much, or there may not be
enough time to give to each thing individually, resulting in little success.
Focus is the key. If we can look at each thing by itself, after awhile the
total of accomplishments start to add up. The overwhelming pressure does start
to subside.
In a world that is so preoccupied with the "quick fix", fifteen minutes of
fame, and a short attention span, it is no wonder why so many have an
increasingly hard time focusing in on what really matters, and how to increase
the level of happiness in their lives. So take it one step, one day, at a
time. Don't be afraid to look for encouragement, whether it's through prayer,
friends, family. Surround yourself with the positive...your enemy is
negativity. Each day turns into a month, and into a year....look at your life
as a series of chapters that one day will become an incredible story. These
stories become the essence of who we are, and what we leave behind....
So where are your minds right now? In the past, the present, and many future
times, all at once? Time is a very precious gift; so precious that it's only
given to us moment by moment. One step, one moment, and then the next step
and it's moment.