Have you ever started toward a goal or desire, something that you really wanted to achieve or own and then found yourself running out of gas somewhere along the way? *Joel Osteen, Pastor of Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas tells this story to illustrate my point.
“I was in Colorado for a few days of vacation, and one morning decided to take a hike to the top of a particular mountain. I considered myself in excellent physical shape and believed that I could complete this challenge in forty-five minutes or less. This particular hiking trail usually took the average person three-plus hours to climb.
"I started out at a good rate of speed and things were going well at first. After 45 minutes of rigorous climbing I felt burned out. My legs ached, I was severely winded and was ready to give up.
"About this time an elderly gentleman, heading downhill came around a bend in the trail in front of me. This gentleman looked at me and he could tell that I was struggling to make the climb.
"In a clear voice he greeted me and then offered these words of encouragement. “You are closer than you think, young man. Keep climbing.”
"Well, this spurred me on and after a bit of a rest I resumed climbing. In less than ten minutes I rounded a bend in the trail and there before me lay the most amazing view, the pinnacle for which I was seeking. I had made it to the top! What an amazing experience that was.”
How close have you and I come to something we earnestly and sincerely wanted and hoped for, yet we stopped climbing a few steps too soon? I’ve had moments in my life of great energy, great dreams and bursts of ideas that were certain to lead me to my ultimate goals, yet along the way I lost my focus. My grip weakened, and my drive and determination disappeared and I stopped climbing.
I have a computer file full of sketches and the beginnings of story ideas that I dreamed one day would be a source of encouragement, hope and motivation to my readers. But I stopped short of the finish line. I got distracted and I stopped doing the daily things that would have led me to the completion of my dreams.
Some years ago I read about Michelangelo, the great painter and sculptor. He seemingly could look at a block of marble and see the image captured inside of it. He felt it was his job to free that image from the marble.
In his studio he was reported to have numerous works that were in various stages of development. On one table was just the hint of a foot emerging from the base of a stone. Another block of stone showed a shoulder just beginning to take shape, or one eye and part of a nose.
Do you have scraps of beginnings in the workshop of your mind, on your computer or in your life? Have you abandoned some of these? Perhaps you’ve moved on to other projects. But the question remains, “were you closer than you think”?
We know from history that Michelangelo finished a museum full of art pieces, paintings and sculptures. He didn’t give up. He worked each day on the most important task at hand. He kept moving closer to his ideas and dreams and turned them into reality.
How about you? How close are you to something you want, desire and dream of possessing?
Perhaps you are closer than you think.
Maybe that dream job is within your grasp and all you need to do is send out a few more resumes.
Maybe that brilliant idea that will make all the difference in your world is just over the horizon and it is waiting for you to spend some quality creative time to capture it.
Maybe your medical healing is just around the corner with one or two more treatments. Maybe your medical team is about to reach a breakthrough. You just might be closer than you think to your medical miracle.
Maybe your business downturn is on the verge of an upturn. Maybe your marketing dollars and sales calls are ready to pay off. The economy is showing some positive signs of improvement these days. Your business just might be closer to blooming than you think.
Be encouraged.
Have hope. You Are Closer than You Think.
(*This is an abridged story. The full accounting of this incident can be found in It’s Your Time, by Joel Osteen, Published by Simon & Schuster and can be ordered by clicking on the Up-Words Bookstore link to the right of this blog. It is located on page 4 of these book listings.)
“I was in Colorado for a few days of vacation, and one morning decided to take a hike to the top of a particular mountain. I considered myself in excellent physical shape and believed that I could complete this challenge in forty-five minutes or less. This particular hiking trail usually took the average person three-plus hours to climb.
"I started out at a good rate of speed and things were going well at first. After 45 minutes of rigorous climbing I felt burned out. My legs ached, I was severely winded and was ready to give up.
"About this time an elderly gentleman, heading downhill came around a bend in the trail in front of me. This gentleman looked at me and he could tell that I was struggling to make the climb.
"In a clear voice he greeted me and then offered these words of encouragement. “You are closer than you think, young man. Keep climbing.”
"Well, this spurred me on and after a bit of a rest I resumed climbing. In less than ten minutes I rounded a bend in the trail and there before me lay the most amazing view, the pinnacle for which I was seeking. I had made it to the top! What an amazing experience that was.”
How close have you and I come to something we earnestly and sincerely wanted and hoped for, yet we stopped climbing a few steps too soon? I’ve had moments in my life of great energy, great dreams and bursts of ideas that were certain to lead me to my ultimate goals, yet along the way I lost my focus. My grip weakened, and my drive and determination disappeared and I stopped climbing.
I have a computer file full of sketches and the beginnings of story ideas that I dreamed one day would be a source of encouragement, hope and motivation to my readers. But I stopped short of the finish line. I got distracted and I stopped doing the daily things that would have led me to the completion of my dreams.
Some years ago I read about Michelangelo, the great painter and sculptor. He seemingly could look at a block of marble and see the image captured inside of it. He felt it was his job to free that image from the marble.
In his studio he was reported to have numerous works that were in various stages of development. On one table was just the hint of a foot emerging from the base of a stone. Another block of stone showed a shoulder just beginning to take shape, or one eye and part of a nose.
Do you have scraps of beginnings in the workshop of your mind, on your computer or in your life? Have you abandoned some of these? Perhaps you’ve moved on to other projects. But the question remains, “were you closer than you think”?
We know from history that Michelangelo finished a museum full of art pieces, paintings and sculptures. He didn’t give up. He worked each day on the most important task at hand. He kept moving closer to his ideas and dreams and turned them into reality.
How about you? How close are you to something you want, desire and dream of possessing?
Perhaps you are closer than you think.
Maybe that dream job is within your grasp and all you need to do is send out a few more resumes.
Maybe that brilliant idea that will make all the difference in your world is just over the horizon and it is waiting for you to spend some quality creative time to capture it.
Maybe your medical healing is just around the corner with one or two more treatments. Maybe your medical team is about to reach a breakthrough. You just might be closer than you think to your medical miracle.
Maybe your business downturn is on the verge of an upturn. Maybe your marketing dollars and sales calls are ready to pay off. The economy is showing some positive signs of improvement these days. Your business just might be closer to blooming than you think.
Be encouraged.
Have hope. You Are Closer than You Think.
(*This is an abridged story. The full accounting of this incident can be found in It’s Your Time, by Joel Osteen, Published by Simon & Schuster and can be ordered by clicking on the Up-Words Bookstore link to the right of this blog. It is located on page 4 of these book listings.)
Keeping climbing, you're almost at the top. Thanks for the encouragement - how we all need that nudge
ReplyDeleteFor sure an applicable story for me, and I'm sure anyone who reads it ... looking forward to reading your works Mike ... very good stuff ...
ReplyDeleteDonnie ... : )