I attended an all-hands meeting for my organization at work today. As usual it was a mix of the ironically absurd and the practical as we all struggle to make our "Dilbert world" real. The director urged us to conduct "effective" meetings and that those meeting should be no longer that ½ hour. He said this in a meeting that was scheduled to go for one-and-a-half hours and actually ran 1:45. Oh well... He did show an excellent slide on commitment. It was a quote by the pioneering Scottish mountaineer Bill Murray that I had seen before and is well worth revisiting."Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!" W. B. Murray, 1950
Our round-the-world project is predicated on commitment. People have said to me that they could "never do something like that" or couldn't even "imagine" doing it. And I agree that if one doesn't first imaging doing something difficult, they probably can't do it. So it all starts with ones imagination, when a dream resolves into a vision, your are getting closer. Once the vision is established, the final requisite ingredient to a great adventure is commitment. Like some incredible alchemy, once commitment is added the mix, the dream takes on a life of its own and a certain clarity resolves itself, informs all future decisions and guides one's life.
We have lots to do before our departure date of 11/1/09; a three page list of boat projects, houses to sell in a tough market, innumerable possessions to dispose of and many personal business affairs to resolve. Sounds daunting but we have the lens of commitment to see our way through.
