The local TV station carries live coverage of a multi-national sporting event that nobody seems to care about. From any camera angle, the stands were empty. I initially thought I was seeing the outcome of poorly positioned TV cameras. As I scanned the various reporting services on the web, it seems that many have noticed the same thing. Nobody seems to care enough to watch.
There are exceptions. The athletes involved care. They dedicated themselves to training, competing, and preparing to perform on this stage. Whatever one might say about the games, the individuals that are participating in it make everything look natural. I know that I could not do what they are doing it, especially when it comes to specific accomplishments. They are faster than I ever was. They can lift more than I could ever lift. And they know the nuances of the sport they compete in. In every case, they make it look easy! The one exception could be the balance beam in gymnastics, however for brief moments it did look easy.
I wonder if I have ignored the measure of anything we try to do in life; success is measured by how easy one makes it look. If it looks hard, then I may accomplish the goal however I should not consider my achievement a success. If I make it look easy, voila! I have achieved success.
While I do not think this is the total answer, there is some kind of validity to the premise. When I think of spiritual success, described through the living reality of compassion and love, then an old saying comes into focus. “The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.” (1 John 5.3)
As I begin the day, rather than focus on being perfect, I see an opportunity to be natural in everything I do. Compassion trumps, love wins, people experience something different than the norm. Life will not be perfect. There is a possibility that we can experience success, if only for a time.
