Success. It Always Comes Back to... Work!

A new year has started... again.  Most of us look back at the past year and think of the things we wish we would have done and are amazed at how fast time has past.  Meanwhile we have become absorbed in everyday life and accomplished little or nothing that we wish for.  I do this each year.  Perhaps it is not normal and I am the only one that feels this way, but I think not.  I tend to look back and think how different things would be if I had just been on the treadmill 20 minutes each day, followed that healthy diet, practiced my musical instrument an extra 15 minutes daily, etc.  I recognize, and take responsibility for, the place I find myself in life and realize it has mostly been because of decisions that I have made.  On occasion, however, I fall into the familiar old thought pattern that says "why have better things not come my way?" or "why didn't I get that kind of a break/promotion/financial windfall/etc.".

As much as I struggle within myself to believe that this is not true, I must say that often I think even these things are a result of my actions, or should I say inaction.  Whether you believe in God, karma, mystic energy, a benevolent all-knowing intelligence, or your own power, many of us often wonder why fortunate situations and circumstances seem to come to others but not to us. Why is it that so many of us say to ourselves "why do good things happen for others but not for me?".  We think back on things we enjoyed doing, probably things we have talent for, and wonder why we didn't get the breaks that came to someone else.  Why do we spend our lives working at a job that we dislike or feel has no meaning, going through the motions of a meaningless existence.

I don't have the answers to so many of the things that happen to us all.  I do believe in God and that He has a purpose for each and every one of us, and will use us when we allow Him to.  I am beginning to think more often these days that the limiting factor in life is ourselves.  I have spent most of my life looking for a break, an opportunity, someone to come up and tell me how great they think I am, how much potential I have and what a great blessing I will be to the world with this new career/business/ministry/bank account that they are giving me.  The answer in my life, and I would guess many others, is work and preparation.  There are so many things that I have talent for, but without work, study and preparation I am not ready for success in these areas.  A great example is individuals that win the lottery and in a few short years find themselves divorced, isolated from friends and family and broke.  The work we do prepares us for the success God will bring our way when we are ready for it.  God has given me the talents, but He leaves it up to me to develop and use them.