The Vision to Do

I've pulled this draft up on my screen at least ten times in the past month and it is time I actually get it written. 
This post originates from 4 different parts of my life-- church meetings, How I Met Your Mother, Once Upon a Time, and an old roommate. It began with one but every few weeks another thought was added. 

It all started a few months back at my friend's talk in church she gave when she returned from her LDS mission. The thought that got through to me was that we have to hear and do sometimes before we can see. It's that act of trust, or faith, that gives us the power to run confidently toward an unseen future. We're not guaranteed an outcome nor do we necessarily even know where we want to end up but it is all a process of learning that must take place by making an effort. That thought was solidified with another church meeting in which Elder Kopishka said, "Learning by faith is another word for learning by doing." Another friend left on his mission during this same time period and his farewell talk at church was based on "the vision to do." I loved how well that phrase summarized my thoughts. It's not "the vision to succeed" or "the vision to finish" but it's the idea that you can see the potential in simply acting and working- even if that's all you can see.

As I was searching for an image to accompany this post I stumbled over something I've become very familiar with as I've added How I Met Your Mother to my list of loves in my life. 

Intervention.

In the series, any time one of the group gets a little too carried away with something, the other members hold an intervention in which they bring up the problem and offer their help to solve it. 

I like the idea of taking a moment to throw up a big "Intervention" sign in our lives. In the case of this blog post, sometimes we become far too complacent with ourselves and we need to take that moment to pause for a minute for a personal intervention. We need that time to evaluate ourselves and our own potential and happiness and ask ourselves is there more? Do I have the vision to do?

We have to want it. 

"Do" is an action word and it's not going to matter much if we're still lounging around with our past and present. We have to want something out of our future and really want it.

I really liked a line that Rumpelstiltskin says to Regina in Once Upon a Time. He's an evil sorcerer who is training her in using dark magic. Here's what he has to say:

"So long as you harbor foolish notions of bring back the dead, so long as you live in the past, you'll never find your future. Teaching you is a waste of time."

We can't just keep sitting around reminiscing on how great our life was and how much we want to be that happy again. We have to accept that life has happened and now we have the opportunity for something new and incredible and then push ourselves to go out and find it. 

One of my old roommates had a poster stuck to her wall that if I remember right was a Mary Kay poster. It had cut-outs of many pictures and words that formed her goals and dreams for her life some day and it was her motivation to accomplish those things. It gave her the vision to do.

What a great opportunity we have every moment of our lives to have the option of stopping our normal cycle and sitting down and figuring out where we're at and where we can be. We have the opportunity to take on the challenge of being something more, even if we have no idea what our final goal is. All is takes is a step at a time, knowing that being active in the things that matter most will bring us the greatest happiness and will refine us into people beyond anything we ever thought realistically possible. 

The vision to do.

See it.