I ATTENDED A UNIVERSITY graduation ceremony where I listened to a famous Hollywood actor (who had graduated from that school) deliver the commencement address. He spoke of the positive power of “No,” specifically the lessons life can teach through rejection. He then encouraged the graduates to use their newly acquired education to overcome life’s obstacles.
To mitigate the disappointment of hearing “No”, he revealed his personal daily plan for whatever life may throw at him as he prospects for his next gig. He posted two signs in his house, one on the bathroom mirror, the other on the door post where he exits the house.The sign on the mirror reads, “It isn’t going to happen that way;” and at the exit, “It isn’t going to happen that way either.”
When he said this, mixed laughter swelled here and there throughout the arena. Looking around, I noticed that the most robust laughter came from parents and grandparents of the students. “Yes!” Those seasoned warriors of life's tough lessons. They understand what that means. The inexperienced ones (in black robes) mostly smiled and shrugged their shoulders.
As I am writing this, I sit in a warm, quiet room, looking out of floor-to-ceiling windows into the early morning light. I watch the cool December breeze blow the bushes and leaves here and there. “It’s about to begin again," I say to myself. "January."
Every year I make new plans and resolutions. In fact, I was just thinking about what I want to accomplish TODAY. We are poor judges of the swiftness of time. I recall last year; I think—it didn’t happen that way, though I thought it would. I'm sure you may be thinking the same.
It is humorous in a way, that we humans have become numb to time and planning, as experience tells us that most likely things won’t "turn out that way.” The truth is, no one has any idea what will happen even the next moment. So I smiled, “What if I tried the wisdom of my Creator for just one year? This year. The actor had discovered a clever way to translate a ancient Bible truth; but truth alone doesn’t provide solutions. We must act.
Maybe our new tactic should become adding one word, ”IF,” into our daily business plan. Even Continuous Improvement gurus teach us that small good changes done consistently over time produce new thinking and productive habits. What if “IF” before every plan changed everything!?
“We might say, 'Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money." The truth is, "We don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.” — “Instead we should say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” (from James 4)
I wish us all a prosperous New Year . . . IF . . .
© Copyright 2019, Gary Landerfelt, MyPericope.com
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