A wise man once said “much of our activity these days is nothing more than a cheap anesthetic to deaden the pain of an empty life.” Having a busy life may not be a bad thing by itself, but if our busyness is only to cover the shame and pain of an empty life then it is a tragedy. As we spend the final days of the year 2006, it’s my desire that we take some time to examine our pace and direction of life. Unfortunately many of us feel like we are trapped in a squirrel cage, but we can chose not to run in circles by learning from life.
A couple of psychologists did some experiments with rats. They put the rat at one end of the maze and a piece of food at the other end, and watched the rat as he bumped around until he eventually found the food. The next time they put him in, he bumped a little less and got to the food a little faster. After a while, the rat got so good that he just zipped through the maze and caught his food in a few seconds.
Many of us feel like we are trapped in a squirrel cage, but we can chose not to run in circles by learning from life.
When they saw that the rat was really mastering his skills of reaching the food, they took the food away. The rat blazed through the maze the first time, but after his second and third attempt, the rat slowly figured out that there is no food on the other end and it wasn’t too long before he stopped going through the maze. These psychologists gave this conclusion at the end of their experiment “That’s the difference between rats and people, the rats stop!”
Evaluation is sometimes painful, but it is the best way to cement our memories and sink in the lessons learnt on the way.
The value of any amount of time (whether it’s a day, a week, a month or a year) should not be measured only by the things we achieve or do within that time period. It should be measured by the lessons we have learnt during that time period both through our achievements and failures. Each year not only blesses us with opportunities to accomplish some goals, but also enriches our life with lot of lessons that shape our future. The most important question we need to ask ourselves at the end of any year is not what we made or what we got during this year, but what we became as a result of the lessons we have learnt during this year.
As we come to wind up the year 2006, let’s take some time to quietly reflect on the past year and note down some of the important lessons we have learnt. What did I learn about myself? (Any new discoveries of strengths or weaknesses). What did I learn about others (Family members, coworkers, friends…etc). What did I learn about my relationship with God and others?…etc. If we do not take some time to intentionally sit and reflect or evaluate we are making sure that we will repeat the same mistakes again and again until they become habits and addictions that seal our destiny.
Please do not jump into 2007 without taking some personal time to reflect on the lessons learnt in 2006. Evaluation is sometimes painful, but it is the best way to cement our memories and sink in the lessons learnt on the way. If you are too busy to stop and evaluate, may be you are proving the point the psychologist made. Remember the rats stopped because they figured out the pointlessness of running without a purpose. In the words of Seneca “As long as you live, keep learning how to live”.
“As long as you live, keep learning how to live”- Seneca
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
