Life's Little Inspirations

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.
~Jim Rohn

 Beware the Drift.

That thought  returned to me repeatedly yesterday morning during my quiet time and refused to turn me loose the remainder of the day. It is not an original thought or one I haven’t dealt with before. I first heard it several years ago sitting in a seminar listening to the amazing Jim Rohn share his thoughts on the dangers of the Daily Drift and how it can  destroy our chances for success before we our even aware of it’s existence..

The drift is elusive. It is seductive. It sneaks up on you when you aren’t looking and steals your lunch. Then it takes your dinner. By the time you know it’s there, the cupboard is bare and you are in a full-fledged panic, wondering how in the world you could have let this happen.

The drift occurs in such tiny little increments that it is hard to see its movements. It isn’t particular, it can choose to sneak up into any area of your life that you stop paying attention to. It’s like the preverbal snake, slithering in when you least expect it, tempting you to relax, just this once, what can it hurt? Tomorrow is a brand new day…another chance…after all…everyone deserves a break now and then…don’t they?

And the boat slips softly farther from the shore, gently rocking on a peaceful wave, as you are lulled into blissful compliance. Yes…tomorrow is another day…another day to let goals slip farther and farther from your reach as time goes quickly ticking by.

The drift is always waiting. If it can get an edge in to your routine, …say, oh for example… the second day of a well-meaning plan and the third, or just home from vacation, or just getting over an illness, or remodeling the house, or any number of excuses we all have, then the anchors that held your boat to the shore start to weaken, the currant tugging on the line as The Drift starts to make progress against the shore. Within a few days and then tumbling into few weeks, you are nodding along, comfortably settling in to a new routine, bobbing about the waves, the anchors all but fallen away, resolutions and well meaning habits a fading memory, the path to success growing weeds on its trail from lack of use.

One day you look up and behold, you are adrift in a stormy sea on a boat without sail or paddle, no map to guide you, no earthly idea what treachery landed you in this precarious situation. A situation, no doubt, you likely have vowed never to be in and would have never willing gone.

Except you did. And you can hardly believe it. Stunned and angry with yourself for permitting such an offence, you begin the self-punishing behaviors and self-talk that we are all familiar with when looking in the mirror. Vile things that we would never say to another. Then, self-flagellation completed, we vow to wipe the slate clean and start fresh, armed with new goals, new maps and new enthusiasm to complete the task.

And the cycle begins again. Until the next time the sneaky snake of The Drift begins to whisper in our ear.

One day off won’t hurt… it’s just one day…there is so much to do and so little time….

If failure is the result of a few poor choices made daily over the course of time, then isn’t it reasonable to conclude that Success is the result of a few good choices made daily over the course of time?

Baby steps forward or lazy drifting backward. You choose.

Because nothing stands still. Ever.

Beware the drift.