Do you ever find yourself running every day, but still stuck in one place? Do you feel like you are putting lots of effort into a project, but it simply does not seem to be going anywhere? There is a deep irritation and hopelessness that can arise in situations like these. After all, it is never a nice feeling to discover that all of your time and energy have been wasted on a fruitless endeavour.
Have you considered, however, whether the effort that you are putting in is not really going towards the goal you want to achieve? Maybe the reason why you have not gone anywhere despite running all the time, is because you have been running on a treadmill!
A lot of young people have packed, tiring days. They seem to be working on something every single minute. Yet, they find themselves dissatisfied at the end of their day. They feel as if they have not been productive because even if they have completed several tasks, they have not achieved the goals that they really wanted to reach. This, however, is not true. Sometimes, just working hard or smart is not enough. You have to work both hard and smart.
There is a small bird that visits the library in our school. Every morning, at almost the same time, it swoops headfirst into a glass window, crashes into it and falls back. Every time, it sits at the window-sill after the fall, looking confused and hurt, perhaps wondering why it could not go through the window. The bird, after pecking at the window for a few minutes, flies off. It then returns the following day to repeat the same process. The most interesting part of this entire situation is that this is not an event that has occurred once or twice, but repeatedly for several weeks now. It has been occurring so much so that the students have named him “Einstein”, as an ironic nod to the poor bird’s inability to learn.
The obstacle in the bird’s path of flight is quite obvious to us, but the bird is unable to recognise it. The window itself is a minor issue for the bird, because it could always find another way to fly. However, the fact that it refuses to acknowledge the window and continues flying into it day after day prevents it from moving forward.
A very important part of being able to achieve our goals is not just overcoming obstacles, but also recognising different aspects of our lives that are acting as obstacles and avoiding them. Whether it is a certain friend group that is limiting your abilities, a few bad habits or even some hobbies that seem to take up valuable time that you should be putting towards other things. All of these things can drain you and tire you while preventing you from doing the things you really want to do.
Our talents and energy should not be wasted trying to break unbreakable windows, but instead going towards achieving the goals that matter to us.
