Every Accomplishment Starts with the Decision to Try!

This quote by John F. Kennedy?emphasizes that the first step towards any achievement begins when we decide to make an initial effort – to simply try without overthinking it. It highlights how all progress in life flows from driving past hesitation and excuses and getting started.??Procrastination is often our greatest obstacle, but what is this but an excuse to ourselves not to make the effort, not to try.

The first step is often thought to be the most difficult, but it is usually a step or two down the line. We are caught up in an idea, the excitement of creativity or the support of others encouraging us to try. But where is this excitement or the cheering crowds s few miles down the marathon the course. When things get tough the weak often go because they do not have the strength to continue without the encouragement of others or the “buzz” of excitement.

Self-determination is at the root of achievements, but the real accomplishment is the community that is formed because of the effort. Few things are accomplished totally on our own, by ourselves without the support of others. Take any important accomplishment in the world over the past several centuries and you will clearly see that it was the result of a team effort. The vision and leadership that put it out there were absolutely necessary and key to the success, but the accomplishments were the results of several people working together under leadership and toward common goals.

Kennedy is perhaps best known, even in the light of many other challenges, for his declared vision that sent us to the moon. No one at the time even thought this possible, but it was this stated vision that brought the people together to make it happen. When we now look back at the technology employed for this task and compare it to today, we can almost conclude that nothing is impossible today. The difference is that there was a community of believers back when the vision was set forth. Today we have incredible division and communities rally around self-interest and not grand visions.

Success is not accomplished through individual efforts, nor without failures. Many attempts were made before a successful moon rocket, the first manned flight, a trip around the moon, orbiting the moon, and the actual landing. They learned from their failures and built upon them to achieve successes. Can we now learn from our failures of division and choose unity and cooperation to achieve our goals?

The TRUTH is that there can be no unity as long as we chose the paths of “either or” over those of “and.” ?Yes, we are all neighbors, living together in this great land and blessed by “Liberty and Justice” for all, even if we do not act like it very often. We are separated by evil, and only true love and respect for one another can defeat this evil. I recently wrote about a book I am reading, the Triangle of TRUTH by Lisa Earle McCleod. It is based upon trying to find the Higher-Level Solution between My TRUTH and Your TRUTH. Instead of trying to compromise in the middle or fight about who is right and wrong. The Triangle of TRUTH provides a model for redirecting energies, honoring the TRUTH on both sides. But is promising to be so much more. It identifies how we tend to put people into categories and how this causes division. She calls it the “harnessing the power of And.” It boils down to the fact that the world is filled with dichotomies – things that when pitted against each other cause conflict, yet when harnessed together create great results.

We believe that if we could only solve our conflicts and strife, we could solve all our problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our conflicts do not hold us back; it is quite the opposite, they are, in

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fact, the secret to solving our problems. It is this ability to face our problems, face what is opposing our progress, that helps us find solutions. The real power of the Triangle of Truth lies in the ability to take the model from the abstract – from the intellect – into the world of emotions. It is hard to change the way other people think, until you change the way you think. This is quite simple to do, it depends on one thing…love.

We can and must solve our problems. ?The TRUTH is that we need other people to accomplish almost anything. If people know that you care, they will help. Perhaps Marget Mead said it best.

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”