Making Everything Different
“Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...” C.S. Lewis
For many of us, today won't feel much different than last Monday or the Monday before that, or the one before that.
Perhaps the weather will shift, or we'll get a note from an old friend, or we'll have a particularly tasty lunch, but odds are much of our day will look remarkably similar to previous days.
Traffic will slow around the same freeway curve. The boss has the same "hot buttons." Children will bicker over the same topics.The neighbor will make the same comment. Your spouse will come home with the same disposition.
Short of trauma or a jarring surprise (and those certainly happen), today is going to be just one more step along your life's path.
If you're like me, "same" seems to be what I perceive most days.
My vision is short-sighted and no amount of concentration changes that. I am limited. I can only see so far, and most of the time I'm simply looking at the next step on the path.
But steps add up.
Even small steps, when they are in the same direction, make an impact.
Every Monday I take a minute to think through my direction. I kick around a few questions:
What am I walking toward? (As opposed to what am I running from.)
How can I help? (Not what can I get.)
Where am I irreplaceable? (The answer is never linked to where I make money.)
Does my calendar and my checkbook accurately reflect my values? (These are my most accurate gauges.)
Sure, I also think about where I am going to eat, how I can avoid Roswell Road, and what if my dog digs a new hole in the backyard, but those are "same" thoughts, not necessarily "steps."
If I want to make tomorrow different, I have to recognize that the small steps of today are taking me places...ready or not!
Where are you heading?