Kiss of Truth

When I was 13, my family built a home in the mountains of Idaho.  My father always referred to it as my mother’s “dream home” (which was his way of saying that it cost a bloody fortune!).  I remember watching the big yellow backhoe dig out a hole in the hillside upon which the house would perch.  Just inside the entire outer edge of the excavation was an even deeper, three-foot trench.  I asked my father: “Why is there a deep trench all the way around where the house will stand?”  He explained that any structure is only as strong and stable as the footings and foundation upon which it stands.  “In that trench,” he said, “a reinforced cement footing will be poured.  The cement walls of the house foudation will be sealed to that footing,” he continued, “and this will firmly anchor the house to the hillside.”  He added a little metaphor about the footings of marriage being true love, and that upon that footing is the foundation for building a strong family.  This simple tidbit stuck with me.

To build and maintain a successful life – in all arenas of life – we must pour a deep footing.  The cement of this footing is our motives – our motivation – which is anchored in our inner convictions and desires.  These motivations must be so strong as to be solid and unswerving; driving us ever forward toward our goals and dreams.  These are the values that make us who we are and who we will become over time.  When we understand our motivation – that which drives us ever forward – we have poured a proper footing.

Upon this footing is placed an indestructable foundation: Mental Preparation!  This is where I have failed so many times in my life, and where I believe so many of us place “cracks in the foundation”.  Mental preparation means “getting our heads right” so that we can achieve our goals; it means emotional stability; it means clearing out those intangible obstacles standing in our path; it means erradicating anything in our minds that might sabotage our success.  Half of this is recognition of mental conflicts, emotional problems, and character flaws, and half of this is figuring out how to repair these mental/emotional items in order to be fully prepared to achieve.  Mental preparation becomes sealed to the footings of our motivation.

Some of us know when it’s time take the steps to build the successful life we need and for others (like myself) it takes more time.  But when the foundation is reinforced, poured, set and level, it is then possible to become the architect of our personal success and design the life of our dreams.

September 18th, 2008 | Tags: footings, foundation, Motivation, success | Category: Mental Preparation, Motivation |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL