Most my life, I was focused on the end or in other words the destination. Not a totally bad thing but it is a type of thinking that causes harm in the terms of anxiety and stress. It is a pervasive way of thinking that even impacts the way you organize a desk drawer, take a family trip or do simple things like pay the bills. Destination thinking is necessary for planning but not for living, or executing on the plan. Too much destination thinking causes paralysis, consternation and way to much reevaluating.
After contemplating a destination, and considered the general framework it is necessary to suspend that type of thinking and make way for the path. That is if you want to be effective at tackling what lies directly in front of you, or finding a moment here and there to enjoy it. Focusing too much on the destination can cause you to feel overwhelmed. As you tackle one hurdle after another, you look to the horizon and think that there is no way you can make it through all of these obstacles. Contemplating the totality of all the circumstances that might be on the path is an exercise in futility and often leaves you discouraged.
Rather focus on the here and now, sufficient is the evil for you to tackle today. Consider the end, or the future in much the same way you might check a compass now and then while taking a hike. Having your head down in a map is a sure fire way to get lost, but completely ignoring the map is also a way to get lost. Consequently, we need both types of thinking, but I am starting to realize path thinking is the more frequent.
Guy Reams
