Is it Monday Already?
Some may find this hard to believe, but I’m a diehard goals person. I will get in my mind how I want something to turn out and I will spare no effort to accomplish it. The reason people might be surprised by the statement is that I don’t usually share what my personal goals are. The main reason for this is because when you share your goals with people they almost look at you as a failure until you accomplish that goal. Other people look at goals with only a stop watch in their hands and most of them set unrealistic time tables. They fail to notice the small steps of growth along the way.
The steps to success, if unnoticed, won’t help you the next time you try to reach for a goal. The next goal you reach for will leave you sitting on that same step all over again. Remembering what you did on your last visit to that step wastes time that could be used for other efforts. If you don’t learn, you just react.
Very few wars are won on the first battle. In fact, most wars require many “victories” before the ultimate victory can be claimed. Often people are so eager to get to that ultimate victory that they fail to see the little victories along the way. When little defeats come they are ready to surrender. The war just isn’t worth it. But if you celebrate those little victories, it builds confidence to handle the defeats or setbacks. You want to experience that feeling of overcoming over and over again. When the ultimate victory comes, you turn back on the battlefield and think, “you know, that was kind of fun.”
Life is full of stress and disappointment. When you view your goal as a win-lose situation, you set yourself up to be disappointed whether you accomplish your goal or not. When others set goals for you, rarely do they view your victory as noteworthy. Once you accomplish one goal they have another goal set up right behind it. The victories are soon forgotten. You experience relief, not joy, when you reach their goal. You are heartbroken because no one notices. Their only response seems to be: “Now that you got that done, I need you to do this.” Don’t let them do that to you. Celebrate, even if you are the only one at the party.
A goal is like a book (or a Kindle purchase for those of you who don’t know what books are) of many pages. There is only one way to understand the story and get to the end. You have to open the book and get started. I have seen countless people make excuse after excuse after excuse as to why they can’t accomplish their goal. Negative attitudes usually bring negative results. You will never accomplish a goal if you don’t get started and if you don’t try. With all the complaining some people do, they could be half way through their goal if they spent all that time working on the goal instead of using up all that time complaining.
Most goals aren’t easy. Most of them require that dirty little word called “work.” You have to stop looking at the world as flat and be adventurous. Don’t be scared of the horizon that seems to drop off into an endless pit. The land on the other side of the sun offers many new opportunities. Don’t let its glare block your vision, but let it lead you in a new direction. Take your feet off the comforts of your own beach and visit the untamed shores of a new discovery.
There is a little town in Illinois called Dixon. When I was young, I had an aunt and uncle who lived there with their kids. They have since moved to Florida. I don’t remember a whole lot about Dixon, but we traveled there a few times to see them. I remember on one of our arrivals we were greeted by all my cousins. Each one of those cousins had a snake in each hand. I guess they thought it was fun scaring my sister and me. I remember my uncle owning a laundromat. I also remember going up in a little airplane with him. Aside from all that, I don’t remember anything about the little town.
He was different. He remembered this little town of Dixon, Illinois. Of course, he also grew up there. His family moved there when he was nine years old. He was a quiet little kid who happened to also be quite athletic. When he was a teenager, he decided he needed to find himself a job. He had a goal: He didn’t want just any job; he wanted a job in which he could help people. But what kind of job could a little kid get that would make a difference? He had no experience. He was just an average “C” student in school, so relying on his brain probably wouldn’t land him anything special. To him, those were just excuses that would stop a normal person. He was different. He had his goal and he was going to go for it.
So this skinny, quiet lad decided to enroll in a lifesaving course at the YMCA. He decided he would become a lifeguard. He worked real hard and he passed the course. Now all he had to do was find a job. He didn’t have to go far. He got a job a little north of town at a place called Rock River which was in Lowell Park. The job was hard. He would work twelve-hour days, seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He would work here for seven summers.
There is a story in the Bible of a character. His life was much like his Father’s. There was nothing special about it. From the time he was a boy he probably went to work with his Father to learn the family business. He was a fisherman. Fish may be smelly to you, but for him they had the sweet smell of profit. I doubt he ever went to school and, if he could read at all, I bet it was limited to what he learned in church or from his Mom.
Like most of us, I’m sure he thought there must be more to life than where he was right at that moment. He just wished there was something else he could do. His hometown offered very little that was more appealing than what he was already doing. So he just stuck with the fishing.
One day a man came up to him. The man’s confidence was stirring. The man offered him a job. It was a strange job, but it intrigued him. His brother was already sold on the prospect of going to work for the interesting man. The man said to him, “I want to make you a fisher of men.” The man probably had a very puzzled look on his face. “What does that mean?” was probably his unspoken thought. He looked straight at the man, but he was focused on the distance. He thought of all kinds of things that could mean. “I won’t have to depend on the temperament of the fish or the weather for my income,” was one of the plusses he came up with. “Hey, I would also be helping my fellow man,” that thought really excited him.
Peter would take Jesus up on his offer. Jesus would teach him to become a fisher of men. The very excitable Peter would jump up and down with joy in his victories, but he would almost sulk in their “defeats.” Jesus tried to teach Peter that the ultimate victory was His, but Peter wanted each victory to be that ultimate victory. Peter wanted Jesus’ confidence, but he would lose it during the tough trials.
When Jesus was arrested and seemed to lose “His fight for the cause,” Peter was very confused and he didn’t have a clue as to what he should do. He was ready to give up on the ultimate goal. As punishment for His arrest, Jesus would die on a cross. When Jesus finally breathed his last, all of Peter’s confidence left him. He was sad. He was scared.
Then Sunday came and Jesus arose. Peter was excited just like everyone was. Oh, that Easter Sunday! It was a day to celebrate. But what about Monday? Peter returned to his boat, his old way of life. When Jesus saw Peter on his boat he must have wondered if Peter gave up on their goal. Peter swam to shore and Jesus, in a round-about way, asked Peter what he was doing. Jesus basically told Peter, “Peter! It’s Monday. It’s the start of a new week and a new life. Peter it’s time for you to start reaching for the goal.”
On August 3, 1928, the Dixon Daily Telegraph would beam the headlines: “Ronald Reagan Saves Drowning Man.” It would be one of the 77 people the young Reagan would save from drowning in his seven summers as a lifeguard. That would be the start of a life that would be dedicated to helping people by saving them from the dark things the world can bring. It all started with that first step into a YMCA to learn to be a lifeguard and a strong desire to reach for a goal.
Goals help make our life seem worthwhile. Setting goals is the easy part. Working at them and continuing to work at them, even when we may question their worthiness, is what separates us from those less successful. It all starts with a step. Are you ready for a little walk?
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Please help me with the goals I have for my life. Give me the courage to take that first step. Give me the strength to not give up when it gets hard or when the little defeats come. Most of all, please let my goals be in line with Your goals. Amen!
