Direction First, Then Velocity

"It doesn't matter how slowly you go, so long as you don't stop." -Confucius

I like watching little kids play sports. They are not intense like more professional players, but their enthusiasm for the game is contagious. Have you ever been to a little league soccer game? If so, you have probably witnessed this scene a few times: An overzealous little lad finally gets the ball. He is so excited that starts charging for the nearest goal. He runs, kicks with all his might, and makes a goal...for the other team.

While this situation usually ends with laughter all around, I've been thinking recently about how often we charge at the wrong goal, often with the best of intentions. Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, in regards to spiritual progression, "It's direction first, then velocity!" In other words, the path we are on is more important than the speed we are progressing at on that path.

I work with students with behavior challenges. Most of them are behind academically, some significantly so. Part of my job is to help guide students from where they are to where they need to be. This is a challenging commission when I see a need to make up for years of loss in just one year's time. So when I started the school year, I jumped right in. I charged full force ahead knowing that I had a lot to accomplish. And guess what? It failed. The students didn't learn what they needed to. I was running toward the wrong goal. Now that I have finished the first 9 weeks with these students, I am realizing that the goal is not to catch them up academically. The goal is to equip these students with the tools they need to learn. How to take notes, how to summarize, how to generalize knowledge. They need to get on the right path. The academics will come. But it's direction first, then velocity.

I think about my path to good health. I had the direction down and I was all about the velocity. Until I was hit with a challenge that knocked me off course. I want to say that I'm feeling so much better now that it has been easy to charge forward again on that path. But that's not true. I still don't feel well enough to exercise as much as I used to and my diet is still shaky. I want to see results on the scale and that is not happening. But I have made my health a priority and I work on it every day. I'll get back to where I was sometime. It's direction first, then velocity.

As a member of the LDS church, I believe that perfection is our ultimate goal. And if you're like me, you've probably had the desire for that perfection to come quickly. You know your weaknesses, you acknowledge them, you make a plan to change...and yet days and weeks and months later, you find yourself making the same mistakes. I get so frustrated with myself sometimes. I want to be good. I want to be perfect. And I want it NOW! But again, that's charging toward the wrong goal. We're not going to be perfect in this life, so the goal is progress, not perfection. We need to be on the right path, but it doesn't matter if we're walking or sprinting. It's direction first, then velocity.

So, be gentle with yourselves. Evaluate your life and make sure that you're going for the right goal. And once you've done that, remember that while you should be moving in the right direction, you don't need to move quickly. It's direction first, then velocity!

Love,
Candace