A young ensign had nearly completed
his first overseas tour of
duty when he was given the opportunity
to prepare his ship to "set
sail." With a stream of crisp commands,
he had the decks buzzing with
sailors and soon the ship was churning
slowly out of the channel.
The ensign's efficiency was remarkable. In fact, the talk was
that he had set a new record for
getting the ship underway.
His bubble was burst, however, when he was handed a radio
message from the the captain. "My
personal congratulations upon
completing your underway preparation
exercise according to the book
and with amazing speed," it read.
"But next time wait until your
captain is aboard before getting
underway!"
What good is a ship without the captain? The ensign did all
the right things, but he never did
the most important thing!
It is a matter of priorities. You may accomplish a great deal
every day. But are you accomplishing
the truly important things? To
borrow the language of Stephen Covey,
have you put first things first?
In marriage and relationships, in work and career, in the
areas of mental, physical and spiritual
health, are you truly doing
the important things? It is never
a matter of doing MORE. To determine
to squeeze more time in every day
for exercise, reading or spiritual
devotion usually does not last long.
More people find success in
deciding what is truly important
and doing it first. And if some of
the other "stuff" never gets done,
will you miss it?
Today, will you put first things first? And how about
tomorrow? And the next day? If so,
you will one day discover that you
are building a life that counts.
--------------------
You may have learned the importance
of SAVING money. And you
may have learned how to SPEND it
wisely. But, have you learned the
value of GIVING some of it away?
Sharing is an important part of a whole and happy life. And it
is a practice that can give back
great joy and satisfaction as you
make it a part of your regular routine.
I like the story of the chicken and the pig. A chicken and a
pig were walking down a street when
they spotted a colorful billboard
depicting a breakfast plate of eggs
and bacon. The chicken stopped to
admire the advertisement and said
proudly to the pig: "Doesn't that
picture make you happy? Doesn't it
feel good to be able to give to
folks that way?"
The pig replied: "Well, yes, but... for you it's a
contribution. For me -- it's total
commitment!"
There is a line somewhere between a contribution and
commitment. A contribution is made
out of obligation, but commitment
is made out of joy.
If you have not discovered the value giving -- try it. You
will be pleasantly surprised at how
good it can make you feel. And if
you wonder about how much you should
give away... well, how good do
you want to feel? The difference
between a contribution and commitment
is often the amount of joy you experience
in giving.
--------------------
If you have ever been discouraged
because of failure, please
read on. For often, achieving what
you set out to do is NOT the
important thing. Let me explain.
Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As
they were working, a couple of older
boys stopped by to watch.
"What are you doing?" asked one of the visitors.
"We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!" one of
the brothers volunteered excitedly.
The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that
digging a hole all the way through
the earth was impossible.
After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full
of spiders, worms and a wide assortment
of insects. He removed the lid
and showed the wonderful contents
to the scoffing visitors. Then he
said quietly and confidently, "Even
if we don't dig all the way
through the earth, look what we found
along the way!"
Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to
dig. And that is what a goal is for
-- to cause us to move in the
direction we have chosen; in other
words, to get us to digging!
But not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will
end successfully. Not every relationship
will endure. Not every hope
will come to pass. Not every love
will last. Not every endeavor will
be completed. Not every dream will
be realized.
And when that happens, when you fall short of your aim, can
you say, "Yeah, but look at what
I found along the way! Look at the
wonderful things which have come
into my life because I tried to do
something!"?
For it's in the digging that life is lived. And it is joy in
the journey, in the end, that truly
matters.
-------------------
James Bender, in his book *How to
Talk Well* (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1994)
relates the story of a farmer
who grew award-winning corn. Each
year he entered his corn in the
state fair where it won a blue ribbon.
One year a newspaper reporter
interviewed him and learned something
interesting about how he grew
it.
The reporter discovered that the farmer shared is seed corn
with his neighbors. "How can you
afford to share your best seed corn
with your neighbors when they are
entering corn in competition with
yours each year?" the reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks
up pollen from the ripening corn
and swirls it from field to field. If
my neighbors grow inferior corn,
cross-pollination will steadily
degrade the quality of my corn. If
I am to grow good corn, I must help
my neighbors grow good corn."
He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn
cannot improve unless his neighbor's
corn also improves.
So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace
must help their neighbors to be at
peace. Those who choose to live
well must help others to live well,
for the value of a life is
measured by the lives it touches.
And those who choose to be happy
must help others to find happiness,
for the welfare of each is bound
up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good
corn, we must help our neighbors
grow good corn.
--------------------
Someone quipped that there is a name
for folks who are not
excited about their work -- unemployed.
People value enthusiasm.
I'm reminded of that great 18th century founder of Methodism,
John Wesley. When asked how he drew
such large crowds of people to
hear him preach, he responded, "I
set myself on fire and they come out
and watch me burn!" People are drawn
to enthusiasm.
Where there is no enthusiasm, there is no passion. Where there
is no passion, there is no great
living. The Bible speaks of the
problems of working with a spiritually
lukewarm people. From antiquity
to the present, lukewarmness in any
realm prohibits folks from living
whole and happy lives.
One woman went to the market and asked for two pounds of
sausage. The clerk yelled at the
butcher, "Two pounds of enthusiasm!"
"Why do you call it 'enthusiasm'?" she asked.
"Because he puts everything he's got into it," the clerk said.
Whether it is your vocational life, your relational life or
your spiritual life -- what would
happen if you put everything you've
got into it?
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