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Monday, April 28
the truth about vision
When I was in college, I saw my future pretty clearly: I would marry the perfect man, have four boys, and peacefully home school them all while baking my own bread, sewing my own clothes, and operating some delightful home business that would make lots of money while never interfering with my idyllic home life. I was SO CUTE.
I certainly had plenty of vision, and there's nothing wrong with that. What was wrong was the way I thought about vision in the first place.
People think of vision as a dream or goal. They think it out, maybe even write it down. Perhaps they go as far as creating steps to help make their vision a reality. What they often fail to address, like I did back in college, is the why behind their goals.
The why is the oxygen to the vision. It's what drives it, what gives it life. Without a compelling enough reason for your vision, you'll always default to the why in your life that's the strongest, even if it leads you to a place that's in direct opposition to your dream.
To really shape your life in a new way, you've either got to make your vision align with the whys you already have, or, more likely and much harder, change your whys altogether.
Because all my friends are doing it,
because I want to take the easy way out,
because I want to make people think I'm something I'm not, OR
because it's what everyone expects of me
weren't good enough whys in college, and they aren't good enough whys today. But they are often the strongest whys I have, so I'm praying for that to change.
I certainly had plenty of vision, and there's nothing wrong with that. What was wrong was the way I thought about vision in the first place.
People think of vision as a dream or goal. They think it out, maybe even write it down. Perhaps they go as far as creating steps to help make their vision a reality. What they often fail to address, like I did back in college, is the why behind their goals.
The why is the oxygen to the vision. It's what drives it, what gives it life. Without a compelling enough reason for your vision, you'll always default to the why in your life that's the strongest, even if it leads you to a place that's in direct opposition to your dream.
To really shape your life in a new way, you've either got to make your vision align with the whys you already have, or, more likely and much harder, change your whys altogether.
Because all my friends are doing it,
because I want to take the easy way out,
because I want to make people think I'm something I'm not, OR
because it's what everyone expects of me
weren't good enough whys in college, and they aren't good enough whys today. But they are often the strongest whys I have, so I'm praying for that to change.
Goal-oriented person that I am, this is something on which I'm working daily.
But I'm learning to enjoy the journey more. Perhaps it's not so important that I see what's at the end... but I like your point about the "whys." Seeing why I'm on the journey in the first place is paramount.