Goals

Dear friends,

I was talking with someone recently who is quite inspired to write a book. He was kind of stuck because it seemed like a huge intimidating project. I said to him, "But you can write ten pages at a time, right?" and a lightbulb seemed to go off for him.

It is frequently good to have goals, but I believe the setting of them and heeding of them is often both overrated and misused. A goal can have you set your sights on something that results in your missing real time clues that are right in front of you.

If you are driving somewhere at night, how far can you see? Ten yards perhaps? You have a goal, but your focus is on what's right in front of you... or at least it better be! If you are ski-racing downhill, you are well aware of the finish line, but you again need to see where you are right now to avoid a mishap.

If we stay focused on the present while having the goal deep in our hearts and minds, we can pick up clues we'd miss otherwise. What if the goal ought to have changed, perhaps even slightly, and you haven't noticed? Or what if it is really not for you at all, but just seemed so from a distance? Once you have started, if you stay awake, you will notice and feel things that you could not have experienced from the water's edge. Get a little wet and see how it feels. No need to either jump in completely or imagine what total immersion would be like. Ten pages at a time.

So, starting small might well give you confidence that, gosh, a modest number of pages a day is not so hard. From there you can do a few more pages, or even decide it's not for you. The mind tends to run wild with both seemingly insurmountable obstacles and imaginings. Staying in the present is often easier than it sounds, and can defeat those energy-sapping enemies. It just takes a little discipline and understanding. Good luck to us all. Now get to work on that languishing project! :-)

Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West