25 - in the eXtra effort you offer

It's in the eXtra effort you offer that allows you to direct your sail

Transcript

Current Episode Introduction

This episode is informed by the verse of the poem representing the letter:

• X

• It's in the eXtra effort you offer that allows you to direct your sail

It includes a brief description of the verse, a personal reflection demonstrating how the verse has facilitated my own resonance with Doses of God in my life, a statement of gratitude, and a few guiding questions that may be considered for your own reflection.

Description

Here is description of the verse:

• It's in the eXtra effort you offer that allows you to direct your sail

• As the winds of life change directions, extra effort will be required to ensure that we continue on the right course. We have no control over the winds and, therefore, must accept them as they are. We can, however, control our reactions to the changing wind patterns by moving our sails to stay on the course designed for us. We encounter many winds in our lives; winds that blow from all directions. At times, the winds are comfortable and consistent, and we can simply let them guide us in the direction we desire. Everything seems to be going right when these winds blow. Other times, the winds will change directions, and if we don’t make the effort to redirect our sail, we will get blown off course. Things might seem to be going wrong when these winds blow, but we can redirect our sail to ensure that these winds are also right for us. Redirecting our sail requires presence, vision, and discipline. We must be present enough to realize which direction the wind is blowing; we must have a clear vision to know which way we should be going; and we must be disciplined enough to react with efforts that keep us on course.

Reflection

Here is my personal reflection on the verse:

• To me, this verse is about engaging in constructive struggles that assist me in refining a vision of where I want to go or be and equip me with the intellectual, emotional, physical, and social capacities necessary to position my sail in a direction that will allow me to go or be there. I view constructive struggles as present-oriented challenges I intentionally pursue that promote my well-being and better position me to identify and act on opportunities to do what I like, find important, and want to put time and energy into. Examples of constructive struggles may include bodily exercise to improve or maintain my physical health or formal education or other mental exercises to increase my intellectual well-being. I view destructive struggles, on the other hand, as future-oriented challenges I unintentionally encounter that deteriorate my well-being and impede my opportunities and abilities to do things I want to do. Examples of destructive struggles a person might experience include physical challenges that accompany poor health as a result of an imbalanced diet or complacency, burdens of depression or anxiety that accompany addiction as a result of careless substance use, or frustrations that accompany an unfulfilling career as a result of an unwillingness to expend extra efforts to further develop one’s capacities, to seek other opportunities, or to courageously take risks that require navigation of ambiguous terrain. In terms of constructive struggles, I have engaged in physical exercises, such as lifting weights or riding an exercise bike or elliptical, because I could see how the activities would yield positive physical results; I likely would not have exercised in these types of ways if I thought the activities would lead to negative results. I have engaged in intellectual exercises, such as pursuing formal education, because I could resonate with an intention for the activities to yield positive intellectual results; similarly to physical exercise, I likely would not have pursued formal education if I thought it would have led to negative results. In these situations, present discomfort yielded future pleasure. The present discomfort of physical exercise resulted in future pleasure of increased or sustained bodily health. The present discomfort of mental exercise through formal education resulted in future pleasure of increased or sustained intellectual well-being. These examples demonstrate making conscious decisions to endure challenges in the moment so I could live with increased levels of physical and intellectual health, which arguably also led to increased levels of social and emotional well-being, as well as other favorable outcomes and opportunities, although they were not the primary intended results of the struggles at the time. I have begun to realize that extra efforts in the present tend to be less daunting than the future pain of regret from inaction or other destructive struggles that may arise and, therefore, have a growing inclination to act on opportunities to engage in constructive struggles. Furthermore, as my experiences with constructive struggles in the present continue to validate the positive effect of future pleasure, I often find myself experiencing at least a small degree, and at times a substantial degree, of pleasure while enduring constructive struggles.

• I would like to describe a sequence of what I would consider to be constructive struggles pursued as extra efforts in the moment that led to favorable outcomes in the form of a solution to an identified problem or challenge as well as in the form of other unanticipated opportunities that I would be able to pursue. The potential impact outside the scope of the intended short-term outcome of a potential solution was ambiguous; however, I did have an underlying sense that I would hone knowledge, skills, relationships, or perspective that would prepare me to identify and act on opportunities that may have otherwise been inaccessible to me. Each constructive struggle or extra effort in the following scenario, which was outside the parameters of my professionally or personally defined responsibilities, led to the acquisition of new or enhanced capacities that better prepared me to identify and act on opportunities that followed.

  • This sequential scenario of constructive struggles begins with me working as an assistant manager at the Dugout Restaurant. While working in this role, there was an instance when we ran out of kids menus and did not know when more menus would become available. I had some experience working with word processing software and, although it was beyond the expectations of my role, created a temporary kids menu, which solved the immediate problem of not having kids menus available and also equipped me with new document formatting skills and confidence working with word processing programs.

  • After the Dugout restaurant closed, I found a new full-time job and spent efforts on additional constructive struggles by developing and opening a small quick-service restaurant with a friend. In this role, I was responsible for developing and designing the menu, which provided me with additional experience and confidence in formatting documents.

  • During a subsequent role that focused on managing a database in the Teacher Education Department at Minot State University, a friend expressed frustrations stemming from document formatting challenges he had not yet been able to resolve with his Master’s thesis paper. I offered to help and was able to apply my formatting skills in a way that resolved his problems within a few minutes. Efficiently resolving his formatting issues led me to opportunities to pursue additional constructive struggles outside the scope of my normal responsibilities by providing professional document formatting consulting services to other graduate students, which increased my formatting skills as well as my interest and familiarity with education research and academic writing.

  • My increased interest and familiarity with education research and academic writing led me to a constructive struggle of pursuing a graduate degree in education with an emphasis on institutional analysis, which positioned me for professional opportunities relevant to educational research, assessment, and evaluation that have ultimately led me to the current point along my path. I consider this point to be highly desirable for me. Although the future is often ambiguous, my journey lately has been faith-filled, consistently comfortable, and ripe with opportunities to continue engaging in constructive struggles. I anticipate that ongoing engagement with constructive struggles will persistently prepare me with enhanced knowledge, skills, relationships, and perspective to take steps that are right for where I am supposed to be in this world, which I currently perceive as being a malleable place where I am able to continuously adapt in ways that allow me to consciously do relevant things that I am passionate about and capable of adequately doing.

• In each sequential example of this scenario, I was not actively searching for opportunities to expend extra efforts through engagement in constructive struggles, but I did seem to be positioned with a state of awareness that allowed me to identify, resonate with, and act on the opportunities when they presented themselves. If discussed as stand-alone events, the extra efforts of constructive struggles may seem insubstantial and unrelated. However, when interpreting them sequentially, they seem to be remarkably significant as they have been critical points along the path that led me to my current reality. There is likely an indefinite amount of other factors that have been far more consequential along my path; this example merely highlights how a simple skill can be progressively built upon through extra efforts in the form of constructive struggles that are beyond the scope of normal responsibilities and may otherwise seem unrelated.

Gratitude Statement

I am immeasurably grateful for:

• circumstances that have been conducive for putting extra efforts into constructive struggles and will attempt to remain attentive to opportunities for engaging with challenges that equip me to set my sail in a position appropriate for going or being where I want to be.

Guiding Questions

Here are a few guiding questions to consider that might facilitate your own personal reflection upon the verse:

• It’s in the eXtra effort you offer that allows you to direct your sail

Take a moment to reflect on:

• extra efforts you have put toward constructive struggles that better positioned you to go or be where you wanted to be.

For example:

• What are examples of constructive struggles you have pursued?

• How did they support the development of your knowledge, skills, perspective, or relationships in ways that better prepared you for subsequent opportunities to do something you wanted to do?

• How do you feel when you put extra effort into challenges that have potential to enhance your well-being and lead you to desirable experiences?

• In what ways do you express gratitude for opportunities to pursue constructive struggles?

• What strategies could you implement to maintain awareness of opportunities to identify and act on constructive struggles that promote your well-being and better position you to be where you want to be, go where you want to go, and do what you want to do?

Closing Statement

In closing:

• when you make the necessary effort to direct your sail and stay on the course intended for your life, you receive a Dose of God.

Next Episode

The next episode in this series will focus on the verse representing the letter:

• Y

• A dose of God is here for You right now and will forever be

Positive Vibes

Thank you so much for listening. May you consistently position yourself to accept and resonate with the Doses of God that are ever-presently here for you.