from Verse One Hundred FiveWorks are hard to accomplish and easily foiled; fame is hard to establish and easily outdated. Ordinary people all make light of small injuries and slight subtle things, until they get to be big problems. When disaster comes, it is people themselves who have produced it.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries~
It's the small things in life that add up. When our gaze is fixed too strongly on the horizon -- we're completely focused on the ultimate objective -- we don't take the time nor put enough care into what we're doing in the here and now. So, we suffer missteps along the trail and then wonder why we reach a different destination?
Let's say that I set out to bake a cake for my wife's birthday. I become so focused on her expected reaction -- Oh sweetie, what a wonderful cake! -- that I don't pay full attention to what I'm doing.
The recipe calls for 3 cups of flour, but I add only 2 cups. The recipe calls for a pinch of salt, yet I throw in a handful. The recipe calls for a certain measurement of baker's chocolate, but I use chocolate pudding mix instead. When it's time to bake, the instructions call for me to grease and flour the pan, but I neglect to do so.
Of course, the scrumptious cake I envisioned will not look nor taste anything like what I've prepared!! Even worse, I'll be beside myself because I likely won't be able to figure out where I went wrong. I'll be convinced that I followed the recipe to a tee.
And this is how it goes for most of us throughout our lives. Because we fail to focus on the small details, we consistently end up in a different circumstance than we had planned. Most of the time, we don't have the foggiest notion as to why.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Let's say that I set out to bake a cake for my wife's birthday. I become so focused on her expected reaction -- Oh sweetie, what a wonderful cake! -- that I don't pay full attention to what I'm doing.
The recipe calls for 3 cups of flour, but I add only 2 cups. The recipe calls for a pinch of salt, yet I throw in a handful. The recipe calls for a certain measurement of baker's chocolate, but I use chocolate pudding mix instead. When it's time to bake, the instructions call for me to grease and flour the pan, but I neglect to do so.
Of course, the scrumptious cake I envisioned will not look nor taste anything like what I've prepared!! Even worse, I'll be beside myself because I likely won't be able to figure out where I went wrong. I'll be convinced that I followed the recipe to a tee.
And this is how it goes for most of us throughout our lives. Because we fail to focus on the small details, we consistently end up in a different circumstance than we had planned. Most of the time, we don't have the foggiest notion as to why.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Stick to blogging RT.
ReplyDeleteAt least you aren't going to poison anyone.
You mention the concept of one's "horizon".
That's a good one to remember.
I live my life by way of paying attention to what I can see.
If it is over my horizon, I can't do anything about it anyway.
It does not concern me.
Whatever it is, it falls to the people whose horizon it includes to deal with whatever it is.
This includes sending anything off to Africa to "help" people who will in no way actually be helped.
Defining what "help" is, might be a good subject to discuss :)