Land Ho - The Value of Continuation
“Land Ho – The Value of Continuation”
By Lisa Harper
“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you are going to go to bed every night with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer
Have you ever started something that you didn’t finish? Perhaps it was a house project half done, a room half painted, a training schedule half completed, a book half read, a business goal left hanging, a scarf half knit, a lawn half mowed, an office half organized, or even a bed half made.
To initiate any activity requires effort. To continue through the process until it is completed requires tremendous resolve. History proves this well:
Bury a person in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George
Washington. Raise him in abject poverty, and you have an Abraham
Lincoln. Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes a
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Burn him so severely that the doctors say he
will never walk again, and you have Glenn Cunningham, who set the
world’s one-mile record in 1934 . . . Call him a slow learner . . . writing
him off as uneducable, and you have an Albert Einstein. – John Maxwell
Another historical hero is Christopher Columbus. Can you imagine what would have happened if Columbus had not continued his renowned, risky voyage across the Atlantic in 1492? The journey was fierce on numerous fronts, and Columbus was given ample reasons to quit. After a few weeks of sailing westward, Columbus writes in his log of an anxious crew full of impatience and fear. They had witnessed a falling meteorite and tall weeds that seemed to almost swallow them alive. Moreover, seeing their north compass move nearly put them over the edge – literally! Those poor sailors begged Columbus to return to Spain before their food ran out, or a mysterious sea creature would eat them. They feared they would sail off the edge of their world and fall into the Sea of Darkness.
When was the last time you felt like you were approaching a Sea of Darkness? If may not be easy, but let’s take a lesson from Columbus and continue to courageously sail on.
I am . . . confident that if I lose command, the fleet will never reach
the Indies and will probably never get back to Spain. With God’s
help, I shall persevere.” -- Christopher Columbus
Knowing full well of the plans of mutiny and sabotage, Columbus wrote in two sets of logs. One log was kept private, showing the true distance they had sailed from shore. The second log was made public, in the hopes of calming the sailors. This log under-reported the true distance traveled. In this way, Columbus reasoned that the crew would feel more secure being closer to home. In spite of their plethora of struggles, he ended each day by recording this in his log: “Today we sailed westward.”
By December 10 of 1492, Columbus promised his crews of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria that if they did not see land in two days, then they would return home. Much to everyone’s peace of mind, they saw land the next day. If it had not been for the faith, determination, continuation and perseverance of Columbus the Admiral, we might not have America, as we know it today. Thankfully, Columbus and his sailors finished what they started.
What have you put off finishing? Have you listened to discouraging voices for too long? Today is your day to take that goal off the shelf and continue where you left off. Fix your eyes on the prize at the finish line. Picture yourself continuing strong to the end. Go ahead. Be intentional. Spend that quality time with your family. Finish that book. Paint that room. Start that non-profit. Make that charitable donation. Write that business plan. Complete that degree. Do that triathlon. Both you and God will know that you did accomplish something worthwhile.
Find your true north in life my friend, and sail on. Your “land ho” may be just around the corner.
“A ship in harbor is safe – but that is not what ships are for.” – John Shedd
