The power of yet

"There’s magic in that word yet.  It speaks of possibility and opportunity.  It invites us to keep doing what we need to do for success to come to us.  When we allow that word yet to motivate us to keep on keeping on, we unleash the power of yet in our lives."

If you’re like most people, whatever New Years resolution you made hasn’t stuck with you.  Or more accurately, you haven’t stuck with it.  By now, most will have given up on the changes they resolved to make just two weeks prior.  They’re just too comfortable with the same old same old.

When our sincere efforts to change fail, what can we say to ourselves that will encourage us to keep trying and at the same time allow us to maintain a level of integrity with ourselves?  We can tell ourselves we haven’t succeeded yet.  This statement recognizes we still have more to do — more we can do — while at the same time being truthful.

Of course, the most important word in that statement is yet.  There’s magic in that word yet.  It speaks of possibility and opportunity.  It invites us to keep doing what we need to do for success to come to us.  When we allow that word yet to motivate us to keep on keeping on, we unleash the power of yet in our lives.

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Believe in possibility

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Your focus becomes your reality.  When you focus on what you haven’t done, you embrace a reality of inability, one in which you become frustrated at your lack of progress.  But when you focus on what you can do, then you embrace a reality of possibility, one in which action enables you to feel a sense of movement towards success.

That’s the magic behind the word yet.  Yet invites us to focus on what we can do by reminding us of possibility and the opportunity we have each moment to try again.  Only when we believe in possibility will we take the action needed to produce results that lead to success.

Conversely, when we disbelieve in possibility, when we believe the changes we want to make are impossible, then we give up on our dreams.  We quit trying to go after them.  We effectively give up on ourselves.

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Be reasonable with yourself

We should never give up on ourselves.  Nor should we demand too much too soon.  Some things take time to realize.  That’s why we asked in life just to make measurable progress in reasonable time.

That’s the key word: reasonable.  We all have different talents and different backgrounds, so we all progress at different rates.  What’s reasonable for one may not be reasonable for another.  And yet (pun intended) too many of us spend too much time looking at others assuming that, because we haven’t made the progress in our lives others have made in theirs, we’re somehow deficient or defective.

Again, the word yet can work magic here.  By reminding ourselves that we haven’t progressed as far as someone else yet, we give ourselves permission to believe in what can be.  And that can provide hope that tomorrow can be different than today or yesterday.

We’re all different enough that no one-size-fits-all life plan will truly work for everyone.  Why then do we cling to any one-size-fits-all life plan?  Why can’t we embrace our own personalized life plan, one we create after partnering with the Lord?  As long as we keep trying, the Lord will recognize our efforts, even though we haven’t progressed as far as we would like yet.

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Refuse discouragement

I’m still working on all the goals I established for myself two weeks ago.  I’m making terrible progress.  In fact, my effort is so pathetic I’m not even sure I cam claim to have made anything that could reasonably be labeled as progress.

But I’m not discouraged — not in the least.  I know the power of yet.  When I tell myself I haven’t achieved my goals yet, I remember that as long as I get back up every time I get knocked down or fall flat on my face or my butt, eventually I will succeed.  As long as I keep trying, I know it’s OK I’m not yet where I want to be because I’m on my way there.

And that’s the power that yet can have in each of our lives.  When we seize the opportunity we have every moment to begin again and continue towards our goals and dreams, we accept the invitation in the word yet to believe in possibility and do what we can.  That movement will inspire us with hope and encouragement to keep on keeping on.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

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You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode