When we look ahead to the things that are most important to us – the goals that mean everything to us, it sometimes seems overwhelming and daunting.  Can I do this, or is it too big for me?

So we often do nothing – looking at something so large, and doubting ourselves.

But the enduring things in life are built brick by brick, or stone by stone.  There are several pivots in between, and the journey itself becomes more important than the entirety of the goal or legacy itself.

With many pivots and side turns, goal A evolves into a slightly modified goal B – which evolves into a slightly different goal C, etc.  Maybe the stone wall wasn’t intended to be totally straight, due to the topography and forces of nature.

But how can we ever truly know until we break our goals down into a series of bricks or stones, with meaning?  Each stone has a story in the wall.  Some have been stood upon by many people, sat on, or even weathered or defaced over time –  while others were the all important foundation that is what makes a wall a wall.

Each stone important, each pivot life changing.  Isn’t that what gives our life meaning?  Isn’t that what provides the excitement we sometimes thirst for?  Isn’t that what changes our lives for the better, and enriches those around us who couldn’t even imagine what the wall (or goal) would look like?

Rather than look at the overall wall as a daunting project, isn’t important to pick out a few stones and get started?  Some will be heavy to lift, but you will become stronger.  And throughout the project there may be a scarcity of the right stones, but at least you are closer to your goal – and doing something that matters to you.

And it’s not so important that everyone see the wall taking shape – it’s more important that you build on the momentum and find meaning in the journey itself.  That it happens over time – the time that is right for you, and only you.

The stones may not fit exactly right, according to those watching it take shape.  So what? Keep building, stone by wonderful stone.  Let meaning be the cement that keeps the series of stones together.

As the decades pass, it’s the various stones that will be seen, remembered, and cherished throughout time.

Don’t be held back by the magnitude of the wall, but embrace its various stones.