Fall colors in the Northern Hemisphere and the vibrant Spring growth in the Southern signal to all that another year is almost in the books. I thought back to the beginning of this year, to the things I wanted to accomplish. Some got done, some didn't. And I suppose it's like that in most years with most folks. I especially thought about one thing that was high on my list back in January, an additional service for our website that I believe will be very helpful to our visitors. It was with the best of intentions and glorious enthusiasm that I set out doing the groundwork for it in February...and then quickly discovered that in order to progress to the next step I would need to take two steps back.
I should have known. This scenario is everywhere in life. It starts out simply enough. We might have a presentation to make tomorrow. We try to print it and discover the printer needs more ink, but before we can get to the store we need to put gas in the car and before we can get gas we must find an ATM, and on and on. Seemingly straight-forward tasks can quickly become quite complex. So my project for the website is still in development. At the start of this year I felt it would be up and running by the end of summer, but the end of summer has come and gone and my New Year's goal has not been realized. What does this mean? Have I failed?
Hiroki Kuroda is a pitcher for the New York Yankees baseball team. A few weeks ago I watched him pitch in a game that the Yankees absolutely had to win in order to extend their season and reach the next level of their sport. If they lost the game, their season would essentially be over. Hiroki pitched a fairly typical game, for him. He got off to a rough start, but then settled down and managed to keep the other team at bay. It was a good effort. He tried very hard. He did his best. But it was not to be. On this day, as with a handful of other days, a few of his pitches might have been too easy to hit or the other team might have been extra sharp or maybe the ball just took unusual bounces. Whatever the reason, the game he visualized and rationally expected to unfold didn't. Is Hiroki a failure? The rest of the team had their chances to help their own cause but on this day they did not or could not. Does this defeat make the Yankees unsuccessful?
Those of you with even a casual knowledge of American sports know that the New York Yankees almost always contend for their league championship and have reached the World Series far more than any other team. Each year they expect to win and each year they are expected to win. Back in January, just like us, Hiroki and his teammates had realistic goals...goals that no doubt included their personal paths to help win the championship. At the beginning of the year, like you and me, he and his teammates felt a sense of renewal. They made their resolutions and set their goals with conviction. Naturally, they assumed there would be challenges, and overcoming them would be part of the eventual reward for fulfilling their visions. But the bumps in the road took their toll. Some of the challenges were not overcome and their visions evolved as the year went along until, finally, the original visions slipped out of sight.
Where does that leave us, all of us, now that we know that Hiroki Kuroda did not pitch as well as he wanted on that day and the Yankees' season ended abruptly and our website did not get my new section and some of you (maybe most of you) did not reach all of your goals for this year? Well, actually, it leaves us with success. Because achieving a goal is a process. When we set a goal or vow to keep a resolution we make a physical impression somewhere in our cerebrum. The mere act of doing that has already produced an effect. The goal is now a part of us. The process has begun. Of course, we want to reach the goal but, whether we do or not, we have made a statement to ourselves that this thing is important to us. And that alone changes us. That, all by itself, is a successful part of the whole process which ultimately ends in realizing our goal.
We should acknowledge that, like the pitcher, those of us who pledge or vow or resolve to achieve something have taken a successful step that is as valid as any other step along the way. In fact, further steps could not exist without the first step. It's like the first stage of a rocket that supplies the power, the ambition, the liftoff for the flight-plan ahead. So no matter how far along that plan we get, the decision to go has made a difference inside us, it is a successful piece of the big picture.
The new year is approaching. It is time for me to start prioritizing my goals for next year, and you probably know which one is at the top of my list...again. But next year there will more steps forward than back because, by attempting my goal this year, I now know what to avoid and where to put my effort. Thus the process continues. Next year, with a little guidance from my Universe, I will be offering new services to my visitors. My goal will be met. The little idea that became a resolution that became a plan that became a service will be helping others to spark their own ideas. Who knows, it might even help the pitcher for the New York Yankees.
Enjoy the journey.
