Isn’t it amazing how your paradigms can change with a new experience?
For most of my life I have tried to model my actions towards any goal or vision as described in the verse “But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God." As an old farm kid, I knew clearly what this meant by experience. When you start to plow a field you “walk off” or measure it on both sides make a mark and drive straight to the mark. If you are tempted to look back you will forever see that swerve from the mark that entire year. So, to me, on any quest it meant you doggedly push towards the goal, fighting through any obstacles that may try to get in your way. When things don’t work you don’t change the goal but go back to the drawing board and go again.
Today I was reading in Stephen Covey’s book, "The 8th Habit" and he said, "The truth is we're all off track most of the time, all of us- every individual, family, organization or international flight to Rome. Just realizing this is a significant step. But, for many of us, the feeling of being off track brings with it discouragement and despair. It needn't and shouldn't be so depressing. Knowing we're off track is really an invitation to realign ourselves with true north principles and recommit ourselves to our destination.
Remember, our journey as an individual, team or organization is like the flight of an airplane. Before the plane takes off, the pilots file a flight plan. They know exactly where they are going. But during the course of the flight, wind, rain, turbulence, air traffic, human error and other factors act upon the plane. They move that plane slightly in different directions so that most of the time to it is not even on the prescribed flight path. But barring anything too major, the plane will still arrive at it's destination.
Now how does that happen? During the flight, the pilots receive constant feedback. They receive information from instruments that read the environment, control towers, other airpanes, even sometimes the stars. And based on feedback, they make adjustments so that time and time again, they return to the original plan."
Personally, I had a new experience last Sunday that made this message pound home. I was piloting a boat across Lake Michigan. It was the first time I drove something where there was nothing in view to point towards. That the destination was only visible to me by looking at gauges and by a compass. With the choppy waves of that great lake hitting my hull the bow seemed to constantly be pointing in a different direction. I was rarely directly on course, it was a state of nonstop corrections. But ultimately the destination was on target. What struck me even more so, was one of my compatriots who had driven before me, complimented me on how smooth I was, and how he found it so difficult. I had felt the exact opposite, that he was so smooth and I was all over the place. In both instances our perceptions changed dramatically when we saw how we were constantly fighting to stay on course as opposed to enjoying the smooth ride.
Isn't this how it feels in all our lives as we set our course and then face the never ending shifts we must to reach our own shores? Don't get weary in well doing, set your course and then understand it's going to ebb and flow by your corrections as you go.
