A Travel Guide

Introduction: 

Welcome my friend!

How exciting it feels to be here with you, privileged to see this last Friday of the year together, and to share our last conversation before a new start. 

Whether we've arrived here in the warmth of family members or grieved by loneliness, whether we're enjoying the comfort of abundance or the frustrations of lack, we've arrived here with gratitude for the gift of life. 

You see my friend, being alive comes with it this beautiful hope, established in our faith that we'll never go through more than we can bear. 

It's this confidence that keeps us joyful in all circumstances, knowing that we'll come out of each one better than we were before it.

So Congratulations for getting this far, it's because there are battles that we can say we have victory.

Discussion: 

Our conversation is inspired by an experience I had with a chauffeur last week.

His overspeeding had exposed us to the risk of a collision, so I muttered the words “Easy, I have a family waiting for me at home” 

In that statement I realized that although I was rushing to meet up with them (because we were headed for an event) they'd rather I arrived safely than fastly with bruises or a broken arm. 

In fact, if the severity of the accident landed me in the hospital, we'd all miss the event, because priority will immediately shift from stepping out together to taking care of an injured family member. 

So it was simply common sense to go slowly, putting safety first.

■ Missing The Destination 

In appreciation of the satisfaction and calmness that had come from putting out the pressure to rush home, I thought about how simply seeing life as a journey can help us disparage the pressure of wanting to rush it.

Having now realized that more than arriving at that destination, it's important for us to do so in good health.  

We can interpret this to mean that as much as we want to make those accomplishments, it's important that we don't do so at the cost of our soul. 

When we see folks who despite their money, influence, power and fame remain unhappy and sometimes depressed, the thought of rushing to our destination easily comes to mind. 

Like an accident victim, they've arrived with all of these emotional and spiritual wounds and void created in their haste; such that they can't feel contented, appreciative or at ease despite all they've amassed. 

For some others, missing the track has meant being punished at work, suspended at school or even landing in jail.

Once we begin to examine critically how trying to maneuver our way through life ends up wasting our time, from the eventual consequences, we become willing to change our approach, easily choosing stability over speed. 

■ Riding Slowly 

If there's one thing, overspeeding can cause us to lose control, and this is how many of us live.

Oftentimes we fail to ever get a grip of our life because we have our hands full everytime, trying out everything everyone is doing without regard to how it suits us. 

The result of this is stagnation because in doing so much we do so little here and there, never focusing our energy enough to yield results. 

A waste of our time, being busy yet unproductive.

Slowing down is about repetition, consistency, daily self development and growth. It's constant introspection aimed at identifying our strengths and weaknesses in order to know how to amplify our efforts and improve on our flaws. 

Summary: 

The start of one thing can be the beginning of another so on days like this we not only reflect on how far we've come but also plan for the journey ahead. 

As we set big goals for the new year we are encouraged to make them realistic enough to be achieved within the said time frame, having assessed our plans for success on the basis of our opportunities, qualifications and skills. 

This will mean being willing to step up, to demand more of ourselves where required, by learning, improving and attempting new things. 

When we set unrealistic goals we place on ourselves enormous pressure that can cause us to act irrationally, trying to earn or live above our means which ultimately results in self-destruction. 

For instance, when we look back at the year, we could have made certain strides that we've refused to acknowledge simply because they're not as big as all these other things we've set our sights on by comparing ourselves to others. 

Those who have more knowledge, experience, and expertise than us who may at some point, have faced our current predicament as part of their tests and price paid. 

Even if we've had our worst year, it means we've just come out of the year that has taught us the most and we should use these lessons as a solid foundation. 

Dear friend, as our final conversation for the year comes to a conclusion, it's important to point out that this isn't a call for mediocrity.

However, we must not let our daydreams stop us from appreciating every progress we've made at the end of every yearly cycle like this, no matter how little.

Master Apprentice.

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