In Good Time - Timing is everything.

Many lessons that we learn as a child (or while growing up) tend to serve us well for the rest of our lives, others we need to change or modify as we (or our circumstances) grow or change. As a boy I was fortunate to be a Boy Scout and I learned many things that I still find useful daily. Some are in different forms today then they were way back then, but still the lesson learned is useful.

Take for example building a campfire using just 1 match - you had best already have learned the skills of preparation and patience before you attempt this feat, otherwise you will quickly burn thru your assets (small tinder and kindling) before you get to the fun part about placing twigs and then sticks and finally logs onto your fire. Trust me this exercise will teach you that patience is absolutely a required virtue. Try lighting just a log without the required preparation and you will soon learn how to exist in darkness while being cold.

Another skill you learn as a Scout is that a 3 stranded cord (or rope) is always much stronger than a cord with only 2 strands - and a single strand is almost useless. How does that relate for my adult life? Well if you want to accomplish something you need a team (2/3/or more) to make the job easier and strong enough to accomplish your goals. You DO have written goals don't you? (Maybe the goals story is best saved for a later posting.)

Finally, how full is your backpack? It is almost impossible to swim a river or climb a mountain with an exceptionally heavy backpack. Oh you may have lots of needed items in the pack (we had one scout who carried an entire case of Coke in cans with him in his pack on one hike - which he left at the first stop on the AT trail hike) and you may actually NEED versus just want, some of the stuff in your pack, but is it wise to lug it packed so full that your mission is doomed to failure due to the overloading conditions? Don't some of us adults still attempt to do this today in our workplaces? We carry huge loads of "stuff" "data" "gadgets" etc with us to make work easier when really most of what we need is just our most valuable tool - our minds. I travel frequently and some folks are amazed I can make an entire work week trip in a carry on bag that fits into the airline overhead - reason is, of course, that I learned as a Boy Scout not to over pack with wants versus needs.

There are lessons to be learned every day about "timing" all around us and many of us choose to ignore those lessons. No I'm not talking about timing the auto engine (although that is needed sometimes also) but rather things like traveling to Chicago during the winter with summer weight clothing, or the reverse, in the summer with a wool coat in your bag. Timing helps us grow and learn when we pay attention, sometimes needing to wait, other times to rush, so that we accomplish what we are after. All of us experience trials and hard times occasionally also. Again try to remember the timing issue, and a lesson I learned in Scouts - that the steel of a knife blade needs to be tempered by fire to become a valuable tool that is useful. Same is true with our lives today - we all are faced with trials and hard times to temper us into useful tools to reach our goals and beyond.

Please take time today to do two things for me:

1. Reflect, review, and evaluate the lessons you've learned today and how to apply them to tomorrow and the rest of your life.
2. Take time today to plan for another successful day tomorrow. The patience and preparation that you show today will make your fire burn bigger and brighter in the future.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve