“It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.”
–Winston Churchill
Life can be traveled only one step at a time, and it is extremely important that we focus on our current steps so that we will not stumble. It is alright to look ahead as far as we can see with a reasonable degree of accuracy, but it is a terrible mistake to worry about how we are going to cross bridges that are still in the distant future.
None of us can know for sure what our destiny will be. Some people, such as Winston Churchill, suddenly find themselves thrust into the world spotlight with responsibilities more awesome than they could have imagined. Others travel life’s entire journey facing only the normal and expected hurdles along the way.
We should plan for the future and take those actions that seem likely to increase our chances for success. For example, we know that our opportunities in life will be closely tied to the amount of formal education we have. Although an undergraduate college degree opens some doors, we will have even greater opportunities if we get a graduate degree. The more education we have, the greater our prospects for a successful future. But education alone does not guarantee success. Our college degrees serve primarily as admission tickets that allow us to get our foot in the door and compete for a place on the starting line of the race of life. It will be our performance that will determine how well we do in that race and how successful we will be in life.
In addition to preparing ourselves with a good education, we must be ready to seize the opportunities that come our way. However, once we start the first phase of our career, it is more important to work hard in an effort to succeed in that phase than it is to look to the distant future and dream of the achievements we might make in later phases of our lives.
Life’s journey is much like an automobile trip. We are far more likely to arrive safely at our destination on a motor trip if we focus most of our attention on that portion of the road that lies immediately ahead of us than if we try to stretch our vision too far. Likewise, during our journey through life we should focus mostly on that stretch of road that we can clearly see and deal with the distant stretches when we get to them.
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
