No one may hasten or alter his destiny. – Gore Vidal, Creation

We all have something to do in this life. Nature sees to that by issuing everyone assorted and different talents and ambitions at birth. What we do with those talents and ambitions is up to us. We can utilize them or we can squander them. The happiest lives are lived by those who utilize them. Those are looking back at a life that did not turn out as expected may well have ignored the gifts they were born with.

Key is to show patience. It’s a long life for most of us and if we are going to have a satisfying life we must follow the path we were meant to take. Eventually, we will get to where we were meant to go.

The hard part in making or time serve us is not the actual labor involved. If we are following our hearts and trusting our instincts, the actual work is easy, even if it is physically or mentally challenging. The hard part is doing it every day. And every day means every day. We can’t be on our path one day and not the next, or not for a few days and not for the following weeks. The focus required to do something every day, even something we were meant to do, is the biggest challenge in scaling the mountain of accomplishment.

No one may hasten or alter his destiny…

What is meant to happen in our lives will happen, but only if we let it. It’s not always easy. It takes patience, and even though we have a fresh day every morning, the days are relentless. They will never stop; there were millions of days before we favored humanity with our presence and there will be millions more after we are gone. The focus required to face the relentless days is life’s great challenge. To conquer each relentless day is life’s great prize.

When we rise each morning we can either make that day serve us, or we can serve another day in our sentence on this planet. To a degree that might astonish some, the choice is ours.

Share Gaylon! Go!

I learned that the destination is only as worthwhile as the trip you are willing to take. And that the trip is always a toss up. – Steve Walsh

Steve Walsh is an American musician, singer and songwriter, mainly known for his work with the group Kansas. He played with several bands before joining the group that eventually became Kansas, which had albums and singles that were both commercial and critical successes, with some regarding the lyrics to Dust in the Wind some of the finest the rock era has offered. Walsh had an off and on career with the group, ultimately retiring a couple of years ago.

…the trip is always a toss up.

Walsh is correct. His journey led to a musical career of critical and commercial success reached by few who aim for it. We happen to be Kansas fans here at The Thought for the Day and have always thought Walsh would have been content had Kansas not gotten, and taken advantage of, their proverbial big break and Walsh had passed a life as a non-famous working musician and singer.

Though we can set goals and work to make them happen, life is awfully random and sometimes what happens to us is dependent on others. We never know where our paths will ultimately lead. A few paths lead to the demanding taskmasters known as fame and fortune. Some are born to privilege and are sentenced to lives of luxurious indentured servitude. Most of us, however, live outside the limelight.

Regardless of our circumstances, we all have 24-hours every day to put nature and circumstance to work for us, and dreams chased with diligence and courage are usually redeemed. Perhaps not with the external success originally sought, but always with the satisfaction of having set out upon both a road less traveled and the path we were meant to take with our lives, and with having withdrawn every possible benefit from a situation, one of life’s great prizes.

Those with satisfying lives are those who are willing to take a risk or two, who are willing to stray from an established path and blaze their own trail. They set a goal and chase that goal with diligence and courage and end up at a worthwhile destination because they took a worthwhile trip.
Taking that trip is something we all have inside of us. All we have to do is muster the courage to go get it.

Share Gaylon! Go!