A plane fly’s off course to its destination for 90% of its journey
The other 10% of the time, pilots continuously make adjustments to bring the plane back on track and ultimately arrive at its final destination
The irony of life is the contrasting elements necessary to make it actually work
As I think about it, life is a set up of opposites. Light/Darkness, Love/Fear, Acceptance/Resistance, Success/Failure, Birth/Death and on and on it goes
They say life is a journey, not a destination. I can see the wisdom in that
Focusing too much on the end result means you ultimately miss out on appreciating the drama it took to get to that end result
Since you’re going to be on the journey much longer than you are at your destination, it only makes sense to enjoy the ride
Wealth may be my chosen end result (for example) but once obtained, I doubt it will keep me satisfied for long if I don’t make another aim – though, truth be told, I can’t be sure until I have it, as the same goes “they say money can’t buy you happiness but everybody wants to find out for themselves”
But what would probably make me content and fulfilled is the journey of learning how to earn that wealth and the hustle of applying that knowledge
They say, set high goals, not because of what you’ll get out of them but for what they will make of you to achieve them
I’ve set my goal for this year – lose weight. And if, better yet, when I achieve this, the greatest accomplishment won’t be the better body size or even health I’ll obtain but rather I anticipate it will be the habit of personal discipline I acquire because of said goal
But I’ll be off track 90% of the time
It may feel like I’m not even heading in the direction of where I ultimately want to go
I’ll just have to keep reminding myself that that’s okay
Life isn’t linear
It doesn’t move in a straight line all the time. Sometimes, you get taken on detours that you couldn’t anticipate when you first set out on your journey
Some detours are pleasant – so pleasant in fact that you can often be tempted to set up camp there – don’t!
Comfort and pleasure are nice and all but they serve as a distraction to fill up your time. It’s similar to a tour guide pointing things out to you as you journey to your destination, it’s nice to look at and you appreciate the experience but that’s not what you ultimately paid for, you paid to arrive some place
Some detours are horrible, making you want to spend as little time there as possible. These are the setbacks that you didn’t and couldn’t anticipate
It’s the breakups and redundancies, the health issue and political unrest, the crazy family drama, personal dilemmas that we all face from time to time
We notice these straight away because as mentioned, they feel horrible and if there is one thing human beings can’t stand, is pain, of any kind
We do whatever we can to avoid, escape or ignore pain whenever it shows up
But the irony of life is, pain is one of the quickest ways for a person to grow
But even with the growth, it’s still a detour and you definitely shouldn’t linger there too long
As they say, don’t get bitter, get better
Move on
So what are you supposed to do?
I couldn’t tell you that because I always feel uncomfortable being told what to do myself so why would I do that to someone else?
Especially when they didn’t ask!
But some ideas and suggestions around this would be to remain as open minded as possible
Being flexible will help you take on whatever comes your way with less resistance
I’d also recommend paying attention to detail
The ship or plane won’t course correct itself, even a plane flying on autopilot still has to be programmed by a human being to do so
How much more your life
Yes you’ll be off track more often than you are on track but if you do nothing about it then you flat out won’t reach your destination
So pay attention, that way you can notice sooner rather than later when you start veering off track and quickly course correct
Last but most importantly, take action
I’d always encourage anybody, starting with myself, to take action more than anything else.
After all, nothing happens without taking action
Results is the name of the game and actions breed results
So don’t be discouraged when you inevitable find yourself off the set path
Recognise its not the first or last time this will happen
and actually it’s rather normal
Open your mind to the new possibilities, pay attention to how you can maximise them then take action
I feel off track with this blog, I’ll keep adjusting until I’m back on track
SRZ
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