Developing Fitness for the Journey

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”-Chinese philosopher Laozi

According to the Chinese philosopher Laozi, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” We are all on a journey to begin with. History has repeatedly shown that some will excel and accomplish remarkable feats, yet others will fail and falter along the way. Therefore if you would like to make your life a success you need to implement a few strategies to be fully equipped.

Develop dreams and aspirations for the future

It is an undeniable fact that all of life’s success stories started out as a dream. We all need to be ambitions and aspire for greatness. We need to dream big, achieve those dreams, and go on to dream even bigger dreams. Ellen G White in the book Education pg.18 says, “Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children… Godliness--godlikeness--is the goal to be reached.”

During my childhood years my teachers often asked us what our aspirations for the future were. There were many students who wanted to be lawyers, doctors, engineers, pilots, soldiers and nurses. However, there were some students who just couldn’t answer as they had never before thought about how they wanted their lives to be. The reality is that there are a lot of individuals like those schoolmates of mine who pass through life expecting to have success without taking the time to seriously think about their lives and what they would want to make of it.

On the other hand there are individuals who have dreams, but keeping saying “I can’t afford the cost to pursue my dreams.” or “One of these days…” For these individuals to have any kind of success they need a renewal of thought. Instead of saying “I can’t afford the cost to pursue my dreams.” they need to be asking, “How can I afford the cost to pursue my dreams?” The thing is that by making that mental shift in your thinking, you are actually training yourself into believing that you can make your dreams come true.

Develop an action plan

Having big dreams with no clear plan as to how to make those dreams a reality will leave you with nothing. In fulfilling your dreams the aim should never be to do it on your own. The idea is to dream big, develop a plan and find a team that will help you to make your dreams a reality.

The same way a baby progresses through the various stages of his development (rolling over, sitting up, creeping, standing and walking) is the same anyone in the ocean of life aiming to reach the shores of his/her dreams and aspirations needs to progress. That journey, undoubtedly, always begins with that first initial step of courage coupled with the desire to succeed. In order to accomplish anything of significance or to excel in any undertaking, we must be prepared to take that all important first step. After all there’s no way of getting up a ladder without first stepping onto its base. If you are afraid and neglect to make the initial effort then your life’s dreams and aspirations become nothing more than wishful thinking.

It therefore becomes paramount that in order to maximize ones full potential and realize those ardent desires for success there has to be a willingness to take the initiative. It requires courage, determination, guts, patience and resilience to dig in. “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept were toiling upward through the night.” – Henry Wadsworth

Scoffers and naysayers will quite frequently present themselves. However, we will make much progress and supersede expectations once we have faith and self-belief. The truth is that the corridor along which we must travel may not always be as cool as we anticipated nor is it ever as clear as we prayed it would be.

Take the necessary tools with you

Determination and resilience are paramount to success. Your skill sets combined with the right attitude is the foundation wall that guarantees success. Don’t waste your time comparing yourself to others. Neither should you believe you have to be the brightest mind in order to accomplish great things. Ask any carpenter and he will tell you that it’s not necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed that will be utilized for a particular job. It depends on the task that needs to be accomplished. You are blessed with natural abilities to help you along life’s journey so maximize your full potential.

Take nothing and no one for granted

The ant is an insignificant creature who is quite often overlooked. However, in examining the attitude of the ant there are several lessons to be learnt about industry and cooperation. Within the ants’ colony everyone has a role to play. If one ant decides that his task is too menial and fails to fulfil his end of the bargain then the entire colony suffers. In the same breath every human being on the face of this earth has his/her unique role to play. What do you suggest would happen if all the street cleaners should go on a one week strike? Soon enough our towns and communities will be one big mess.

Don't be so caught up with the destination that you the thrill of the journey

Life can be like that sometimes. However, we need to treasure each moment and find pleasure in the little things in life. As you press on in life you may find that your sights are so set on the pursuit of a particular goal that you cannot see anything else. As the days and weeks roll on you start to realize that you have no time for family and friends. Subsequently, your social life seems to be on hold as your soul intent is to accomplish that goal. Your plan is to enjoy yourself afterwards.

Nevertheless, you don’t need to put off enjoying your life. Every moment of life is special and should be treated as such. Living life to the fullest is not so much about material possessions or other accomplishments. It’s about making the most of every moment of life. Besides, we are not sure how our good health nor our life will last. Therefore, we should enjoy all of life’s moments and make every attempt to make them memorable.

Maintain self-discipline

It’s important to dispense entirely of everything hurtful and use judiciously that which is beneficial. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Once we are able to exercise self-discipline and manage our time wisely we are well on our way.

Be attentive and be compliant to the road signs

Having an understanding of the road code is imperative to getting to your destination unscathed. The signs indicate where you are along your journey while also providing instructions about the condition of a particular stretch of roadway. Sometimes you are required to stop, slow down, speed up, change lanes, detour, give way, take a sharp turn, ascend steep terrain, descend slippery slopes, or wind your way along treacherous avenues. Being adept at understanding these signs as well as being aware of the potential dangers of not

heeding the warnings will save you from a multitude of problems.

As such, we cannot expect to be the same gear all the time. We have to be prepared to change gears. Sometimes we will drive in low gear, cruise mode, neutral, reverse, or high gear. At other times we have no other option than to pull up that hand break and park.

Hence, by implementing the aforementioned strategies you will develop fitness for the journey.