I left to go for a bike ride around 7 am this morning and it was freezing cold. I find it challenging some days, like today, going and training but I know I have to keep riding every day. The dream about the bike ride, Pedaling Against Poverty, I love. The desire and passion are close to my heart but it is the reality of the training that I find difficult.
In a previous career, I worked as a missionary consultant with a church organization. My primary role was to work with church leaders to help them drive global mission awareness in their local churches. I loved this work, and I think these were some of the most enjoyable years of my career.
Often when I would have my first meeting with a missions leader they would share with me all of the things they wanted to do (dreams), and how they were going to do it.You could see the excitement in their eyes and feel the passion in their heart but was what was surprising was the number of individuals who never could seem to get past dreaming. And their dreaming was great! I was always shocked when there was no follow through, because they showed such passion and desire. Eventually, without action, the vitality of the dream withers.
What I learned quite quickly was that all of the dreaming and all of the passion will not create reality. Reality is created when dreams and desires meet discipline.
As human beings discipline often does not come naturally. In some ways many of us are predisposed to rejecting discipline, especially when we are forced to operate outside our comfort zone.
For me operating outside of my comfort zone causes paralysis, I get caught in quicksand, I am stopped. An example of this is I am quite uncomfortable with fundraising and asking for money, funny seeing as I am the director of a charity. A second outcome of my discomfort is getting caught up doing things not directly connected to the fundraising. I become busy doing the wrong things.
So how have I or how am I moving past this paralysis? Well, I have come to understand that I need to replace old habits, routines and thought patterns with new habits, routines and thought patters.
“As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of your life the full potential of your soul will never emerge.”
I have this quote above my desk so that I stay focused and aware of what I need to do or change. The second quote above my desk is this, “if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.”
This second quote is vital, because it tells me that the reward is well worth the struggle or the greater the struggle the greater the reward.
If you are having a challenge getting on your bike today and getting out in the cold, let me encourage you to discipline yourself with new habits and new routines.