Are You Progressing?

With the end of September comes the realization that the year is three quarters complete. Presuming that you have intentions for this year, are you somewhere near where you imagined that you would be by this time? If you continue as-is, will you achieve what you intended?

Imagining is completely different from achieving. We imagine based on experience and desire. We achieve based on ability and effort. When achievement does not match imagination, something happened along the way. Either we changed or we didn’t.

Some intentions require that we change our habits. Think of eating, sleeping, or exercise habits. Think of New Year’s resolutions. We imagine doing or being better at some time in the future. Certainly, imagining is an important step in progressing to being a better person. It takes daily effort to make some changes effective.

What else? Sometimes we become involved in pursuing intentions and along the way, we discover that what we thought was desirable is not at all in line with our best being. In new awareness, we take the lesson and abandon or change the intention and the outcome.

Life is filled with gaining wisdom to achieve worthwhile intentions. There is so much noise out there. How are you progressing? Most of us will admit to being satisfied. That is, we are willing to accept the results that our usual effort brings.

If life is not as rewarding as you expected, what is missing? Here is a clue: if you and your desires are at the center of your existence, you will never experience the abundance that we are made to know. We do not find out what fullness is until we share with others, both in their successes and in their difficulties. The world does not tell you this.

We are made for more than only ourselves. We are made to be a part of a larger group, to learn, to share, and to grow through it. We need what others have, and they need what we have. Together we are more than any of us alone.

Sunday School was at one time one of the greatest teachers of such things. With Sunday School often ignored, there are plenty of folks wandering in life and wondering why things seem empty. Good news! There is a community of faith that meets regularly near you that would love to share with you, show you, and learn from you.

You can split your time among many things in life, but you cannot split your loyalty. You can “grab all the gusto you can” or you can live with purpose that will outlive you. The world tells you about the first. The Lord of creation wants you to discover the second and to progress in an outrageously abundant life. Are you up to it?