Headlights

Picture this: you're driving, it's dark out, and you're in a place you've never been before on a road that's through the woods and all together pretty darn creepy. Are you picturing it yet? For most people this scenario would be terrifying if not for one thing, headlights.

Headlights destroy the darkness in front of your car and make it safe for you to drive because you can see whats in front of you. You could drive from Washington, D.C. to California completely in the dark and arrive safely because you have headlights on your vehicle. Headlights show you how the road curves, if there are any animals or obstacles in the road, and any road signs that may lead you to your destination.

But for all the things that headlights do, and the safety they provide you, there are many things that headlights don't do. Headlights do not set your destination for you, they do not tell you how to get there, they do not provide you a map or GPS directions, and they don't light the entire way for you. Headlights simply show you what's in front of your car, and only then for about 200 feet.They also don't show you whats behind you and that's extremely important.

This is just like in life. It may seem like a simple allegory but follow me here. In life you can't see all the way to your destination, you can only see a little bit in front of you at a time. Yet when we drive, we do not become discouraged because we can't see all the way to our destination. We know that it's at the end of the journey. Even if we've never been there before, we believe its there. But in life, if we don't see the end destination or instant results we become upset and worried, we doubt and fear and become frightened. But there is no difference between driving in the car in the dark to your destination and getting to your destination in life. First you set where you want to go then you plan, and head out on your journey.
BUT the most important part of headlights is they DON'T SHOW YOU WHATS BEHIND YOU! Remember this always: "put your hand to the plow and never look back". Wise words, just like headlights don't light up behind you, once you've set off on your life journey, don't look back at all the things in your past. Looking back is as pointless as putting headlights on the back of your car-- it will get you nowhere.

I think it was Dr. Martin Luther King JR. who said it best when he said "We don't need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step, and then the next and then the next" So to sum up, set your destination in life, decide where you're going at all costs, then just start! You have headlights! You're going to make it!