As I anxiously watched for my son to come around the corner of the cross-country race recently, I was struck by the idea that what I was presently concerned about would soon (within seconds) fade completely from my consciousness.
Yet we place so much stock in the moments we become anxious about. So many of these moments are innocuous. Yet we are easily frantic about them. My son wasn’t going to be defined by either a poor or great performance. This is because life is always about the next thing.
Indeed, life goes best when we don’t languish in the moment of either triumph or disaster, in Rudyard Kipling’s words, “those two imposters.”
When we languish in our triumph, we’re left behind. When we languish in our disaster, we lose hope. When life is only about triumph, we’re often disappointed and frustrated. When life is lost in disaster, we’re quickly stuck in a rut.
But there is wisdom in the next thing. There is a purpose as we receive the present yet continue to look forward to the next thing. Preparations are made for what is anticipated, and planning is prioritised, so we can be responsible and relational human beings.
The next thing is about recognising we’re rated on our performances. If we expect to be characterised around past performance, we will be severely let down in realising that life judges present performance, but always from the aspect of it being past.
It’s no good calling back to what we did in a yesterday season. People have forgotten that. What is front and centre is the good we do today. And the good we’ll do tomorrow is right on the horizon in the now.
To keep doing the good we can do today, we need to be ever forward focused. It’s impossible to be present in an effective way if we haven’t planned that present in the past.
Another reason why there is wisdom in the next thing is we are never daunted by that which may easily overawe us. We only need to think of the dreams we hold in our hearts, and if these were to take place in our lives, how two not-so-good things might happen, if we didn’t set our eyes even a little on the next thing:
1. we could quickly become overwhelmed in the moment and hence lose focus
2. we could be satisfied and therefore our focus for the next thing would fade and diminish
The wisdom of the next thing is a drive that will keep us going through our entire lives.
The wisdom of the next thing keeps us humble, approachable, locked into interdependent relationships where we’re no better and no worse than others.
The wisdom of the next thing keeps us hungry, helps us to focus on others, and ensures that we are ready for the inevitable future. The only time the future stops becoming relevant is when we’re dead. The future needs to be our friend, yet anxiety and sloth steal the potential from the clutches of the future, when we fear it or are ambivalent about it.
The wisdom of the next thing is our impetus for equipping. Whenever we consider that more will be required of us in coming days, we ready ourselves for whatever battle we may need to fight. There is nothing better for soldiers and servants alike than to be ready.
The wisdom of the next thing is our assurance we will have done all we can with what we had. From hindsight, we can see how such an approach ensures we don’t sit on our laurels.
The wisdom of the next thing is also about planning to rest so the next things aren’t compromised by fatigue.
The wisdom of the next thing is about hope and aspiration. There’s no life in plateauing.
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