“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it: Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.”—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow It is difficult for most of us to accurately assess our innate abilities. Some of us underestimate our capabilities while others of us are overly confident about what we are capable of accomplishing. Most people do not accomplish nearly as much as they set out to accomplish in life partially because they fail to set their goals high enough. They are overly optimistic as to how easy it will be to attain their goals, and, as a result, they fall short of the mark. We must set our goals higher than our expectations in life if we want to achieve our expectations. Our goals can range from wanting to become rich and famous to simply wanting to enjoy life’s journey while helping others as we travel along. We must all set our own goals in life, and what is right for one individual may be totally wrong for another person. It is crucial that we resist pressure from domineering family members to travel a journey other than the one we would have chosen if we were totally free to do so. Far too many people spend years trying to make a parent’s dream for them come true instead of pursuing their own dreams. Our responsibility as parents is to help our children achieve their own goals and make their own dreams come true, instead of trying to fulfill our own dreams through our children’s lives. We’ve had our chance at life, and we must give our children the opportunity to live their own lives the way they choose to live. Our children’s chosen pathway through life may be very different from what we would have chosen, but, unless they are violating the laws of God or the laws of society, we have no right to interfere in their lives. On the contrary, if we truly love our children we will give them our full and unconditional support as they pursue their own dreams. So whether our goals involve our own careers and dreams or helping our children to have the most productive and happy lives possible, we should set our sights high. It is far better to exceed our goals than to fail to reach them. If we realistically believe we are capable of reaching a certain degree of success in our careers, or other callings, we should set our goals at an even higher level than that of our expectations. And if we want to be good parents, we are far more likely to reach that goal if we strive to be extremely good parents. Copyright 2014 Allen W. Smith TB-230—Posted 10/03/2014
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 02:56:03 +0000
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