Road Construction Ahead

Provided by: tmsmiles.blogspot.com

Road blocks can be one of the most discouraging things when you are trying to get somewhere.  I remember I was driving to a friend’s house, and the road was blocked off on one of the major streets for road construction.  I had to drive three miles around just to get to the place that I was going.  I was so frustrated.

And yet, when it comes to financial goal, or a career goal, or a kingdom of God goal, so many people, when they hit a road block give up and go home.  It can be hard to start down a particular “path of life” and then have your goal take longer than you expect.  Columbus was trying to sail to India when he started sailing west from Spain.  It took twice as long as he expected to hit land, and when he discovered America, he was not even half way to India.

Many great “life missions” are that way.  We read about these people in the history books and marvel over their accomplishments.  And yet if we where to go back and ask them, they would say that the journey was much harder than they anticipated, and the destination was different than what they expected.

Penicillin was discovered from bread mold, electricity from flying a kite, and the 150 uses of peanuts from an over-abundance of peanuts.  Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in the history of the world and the holder of 1093 U.S. patents once said, “Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Of all the great inventors of the success stories of the world, I would assert that there are two qualities that are almost universally present: (1) hard work and perseverance, and (2) a willingness and ability to adapt and continue when challenges arise.

Also remember the title of one of my previous blogs: “Ready-Fire-Aim-Fire.”  If the most difficult thing is starting, and if you were willing to step out before having all the facts to avoid stagnation, then by definition, you will not have all the facts.  By definition, you will have to make adjustments.  By definition, you will have to re-aim and fire again.

With this in mind, road blocks are not discouraging.  No, they are exciting.  They are a further definition of the problem.  They are factors that have to be solved that will bring you that much closer to the solution.  You will not have all the information you need when you start.  If you did, that would be a pretty boring life mission.  You will need to grow, adapt, and change as you go, but that is what is so amazing about the journey.  Run with all your heart, and with integrity, and you will make it!

Thanks so much for joining me today.  Next week we are going to talk about the dreaded “Dead End,” and how to avoid it.  Also there are tons of other amazing adventures lines up for the week.  See you then.