The links between A and B do not work. Nobody seems to care enough to do something, anything in the moment. Everything seems to be drifting. In and out of focus, to the left, to the right. It is as if we have a dream of getting to our destination without needing to do anything about where we are.
It is easy to comment from where I sit. When one does not have a personal stake in the situation, emotions easily find their place and balance in relationship to intellect’s facts and figures. Naturally, as one begins to drift from the center, the intellect begins to formulate the point of intervention and correction. Within the situation, there is one question that sits unanswered: where do my emotions fit in the response, especially as it becomes increasingly personal?
Time reminds me that the amount courage and energy required to act is proportional to the level of how personal the situation is. In my case, I usually wait until the very last moment to invoke a call for help. It is only then that I find myself acting as the psalmist described; “you called out to God in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.” (Psalm 107.19)
As I consider the situation while looking in the mirror, I am struck by a recurring pattern that starts with the following. The easy path is the path most often walked. Even if we have succeeded in every other part of our life, the most visible option will be the easy one. We may speak as if we have chosen something else, but our actions reflect the smooth and effortless alternative of choice.
To choose anything differently takes at least two attributes. It starts with a deep and intense desire to achieve a goal. This desire includes a willingness to put sweat and tears behind the actions that support the rhetoric.
It continues and grows with a desire to be accountable and learn from one’s mistakes.
The greater the dream, the deeper we must reach within.
