Tuesday, September 21, 2010

IS YOUR GOAL THE DESTINATION




The other morning my family and I took a half day hike on the Appalachian trail. The hike took us to a beautiful overlook of the valley. The hike there wasn't that hard...we were looking at the new sites, exploring, taking in the scenery and enjoying the company. We passed another hiker and had a great talk about values and what things we meditate on. We had some food we had carried in, had a great lunch enjoying the view. We loved it.

Then came the hike back...some were starting to get tired, grumpy ready to be done. We had arrived at our destination, it was more than we expected and then the journey continued. All we could think about was tired legs, rocky terrain and things in the way of getting back. For Tammie,it was fear of snakes...we saw a four to five foot snake...the boys loved it, the girls not so much. Finally after the hike back we arrived at the care ready to be done. On the journey there excitement and anticipation, the continued journey back, let down and disappointment, a hard road and a different outlook.

As contemplated on our attitudes, I realized the journey to the outlook and the journey back were the exact same trail. In fact we saw some better things on the way back...the snake, a squirrel trying to bury food and some cool insects, but the joy wasn't the same. Why? THE DESTINATION WAS OUR GOAL. I wonder how often we go through life and we get our eyes focused on the destination, getting kids through school, finishing college, promotion at work, paying the bills. We are excited when the journey takes us somewhere exciting but when the summit is met we become discontent.

What do we need to do...change our goal. Instead of the goal being the destination, what if the goal became the journey. The destinations are blessings along the way, but those are not what we strive for. What if the journey was our destination. I think we may take more joy in the little things everyday, we probably would look at each day as an opportunity to make a difference.

The Bible puts it this way..."Choose you today who you will serve..." our destination is daily choosing to follow Christ. The mountain tops are great, we love to remember them, but we must remember that we are not meant to live there and we must stop trying. Remember life is a journey...ENJOY THE JOURNEY AS MUCH AS THE DESTINATION.

1 comment:

  1. What a perfect picture to so adequately address your blog! There are times on those very mountains that, although it's not realistic, I just don't want to come down. I want to dwell in that very spot at that very moment for as long as I can.

    Whether the journey is smooth and uphill or rough and scary downhill, it's what God has placed before us for a reason. As long as we know that, there is joy in the journey.

    Thanks for the blog. Great!

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