Half Time

One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Seneca, and it reads "our plans miscarry often because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind." I am not sure how I came upon this quote, but I remember reading it the first summer I read what has come to become one of my favorite books, The Catcher in the Rye. Dreams in general sometimes do not have an expiration date, but I have often thought it wise to set expiration dates on some goals. Without these deadlines it could take a great deal of time to get to some goals, time that could otherwise be spent chasing or actively achieving other goals. If a man sets out on a journey to India and doesn't have a certain date for when he hopes to get there, he might never get there or worse off, he might spend his entire life trying to get there.

Let's assume getting to India is an achievable goal for him and not something akin to winning the Mega Million. So, he could pack his bags and sell his belongings sans ticket and announce to the world that he is going to India. Depending on where he is, he might not have figured out where India is proximal to where he is, if he needs a visa to get there, he may not have even considered the transportation options available to him and where he might possible stay once he gets to India. Thus, even if all the conditions are right for him to get there, assuming his neighbor once lived there and can help him navigate, a sale is ongoing at an airline for affordable flights to India, he might never set foot there because in spite of the right winds blowing he never properly made plans to end up in India. 

Often times when plans miscarry, it can often be summed up to a lack of careful planning and an aversion for introspection. As I sat in church yesterday, the Pastor spoke about how today would mark the half point mark for the year, a time that should call for some introspection. It's not far fetched why he would speak on that because it's a good time to evaluate some goals made early in the year and see why they might still be nothing more that mere scribbles on a pad of flickers in one's imagination. For me, the message at church was meaningful because I  had just pondered over my goals for the year, in fact, I read over them and tucked them in my Bible on my way out to church so imagine my delight when the pastor began speaking about evaluating our lives at the halfway mark of twenty fourteen. 

With the World Cup currently going on, it's interesting to see how some teams are able to turn the tide in their favor at the half time mark. France did that today in their game against Nigeria. It is not without question that sometimes situations do not always work in our favor in spite of any level of introspection or careful planning, that is just a fact of life. But sometimes, some careful planning and deep thought or even light hearted reflection can be enough to set us on the right path after a rocky first half. There are still six months in the year to achieve those goals that can be met by New Year's Eve and if that is inadequate time, there is the benefit of being halfway there by that date.