effort

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Consistent Effort Reaps A Harvest Of Achievement

Being consistent is a major key to achieving what you want.You don’t necessarily have to be the best at something to achieve; you just need to be consistent. 

consistent effort reaps a harvest of achievement

Those who try things for a while and then stop will usually fall short of achieving what they want. 

For instance, I’ve played the guitar for 37 years. You would think that someone who’s been playing the guitar that long has got to be pretty good. Well, I’m sad to say that I’m not a very good guitarist. 

As much as I complain that I have a disconnect between my brain and my fingers, the real problem is consistency.

I don’t see progress as fast as I would like so I get discouraged and put my guitar away for a while. When I finally get excited to play again, I’m not really building on my skill, but actually starting back at the basics that I mastered when I first learned.

I’m not progressing; I’m more like staying the same as I have been for many, many years. 

I don’t think I’d ever be a Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton on the guitar, but if I could get over my discouragement in my progress and just play and practice, I would definitely get better. 

Sure, some people pick things up quicker that others. Some may have more of an aptitude, which in turn produces faster progress that leads to greater satisfaction and more motivation to keep going. 

However, if people could just be consistent with something, in the long run they would see achievement. 

We came up to our cottage the other week; we hadn’t been up for a while. When we pulled into the driveway, the grass was green, lush and long – really long.

Our cottage is in a very sandy place. The name of the town is Sauble Beach, with “beach” being the operative word. Grass doesn’t just grow on its own very easily there. It takes work and, more that that, it takes water. 

Our grass had been failing for years and we wanted to turn it around. But, with only being at the cottage for very short stints, interrupted by weeks of being away, it was difficult to get any grass growing. So I installed a few underground sprinklers hooked up to a timer. No matter how infrequent we were at the cottage, the grass could still get watered.

The last couple of years though, I’ve been discouraged because, even with the sprinkler regularly scheduled to water the grass, the lawn kept getting worse. 

About two months ago I discovered that the timer was working, but not communicating to the sprinklers. The lawn wasn’t getting any water. 

So off to the hardware store I went. I got a new timer, threw some grass seed down and we left for home. 

A week and a half later, after consistent watering every night, we have a jungle. 

Consistency works. If you want to achieve something, just keep at it and don’t stop.

Here’s the thing: About 26 years ago I decided that I would read through the Bible during the year. I’ve done that every year since. It’s not a great feat; it only means reading about four chapters a day. But over those years, among other things, I got a better understanding of what God thinks of us and His plan for each one of us. Let me encourage you to consistently read God’s word and you will achieve a greater understanding of God’s role in your life and this world. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to be more consistent at right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It’s Like We Have A Brand New Kitchen

With just a little paint, our kitchen will be finished, for now. We’ve been working on our kitchen for about two months, but it’s coming to a close soon.

When I say “we”, I mean Lily and the people she has employed to work on it.

I have to say that the project is looking really good and the little things we did have made a huge difference in the look of the room.

Don’t get me wrong, Lil is not done. She still wants to get a new dishwasher and fridge, but those are going to have to wait for a while – the old ones haven’t died yet.

What won’t wait is new lighting in the kitchen. Apparently, the new lighting we purchased about 3 years ago (Lil says it’s more like 10 years, but who’s counting?) does not go with the new look of our kitchen. That means we have to take out perfectly good and relatively new lighting so we can spend more money on getting something that she will feel better with.

In my parents’ day, you fixed things in your house that were broken or were getting worn out. You didn’t just change something because you wanted a new look.

That’s why in some homes that were built in the sixties and seventies, you still might find a blue toilet, or an avocado-coloured bathtub.

They worked so why replace them?

That’s not how things work today. You make one change and that will start a ripple effect of changes to make everything match the first change you made.

Maybe it’s better that we do things this way now. It prevents you from going to use the washroom and finding yourself in a time machine that has transported you back to 1974, leaving you afraid to look in the mirror for fear you might be sporting an afro, big bell-bottom overalls, no shirt and platform shoes!

I had an outfit like that back in the day – minus the afro.

Personally, I will be glad when we are all done and there are no more … oh, one more thing.

I like the changes but I’m going to have to get used to opening and closing cupboards again. It’s been nice for the last month to just take whatever I needed off the shelves without opening or closing doors.

It’s too bad that the open concept look wasn’t the style Lil was going for. But really, it wouldn’t be right not to show off her work.

Lily used a special painting system to renew our kitchen cupboards. It was a four-step process, that turned our cupboards from an medium oak colour to black. That and new handles have made the cabinetry look completely different.

We also had a new counter and sink installed. Then she completed the makeover with a white tile backsplash.

Lily has done a great job on the kitchen and though I have questioned her ideas and teased her throughout the process, our kitchen truly does look stunningly new.

Here’s the thing: Your life with Christ is much the same as refinishing a kitchen: it takes time and effort to make the changes, and there will always be more changes to come. Be happy with the changes that God has made in you, but also be aware that there will be more to come. It’s like our kitchen – there will always be one more thing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What change is God making in your life right now? Leave your comments below.