Effort

A little effort is like eating a potato chip. Once you start, the next one just seems natural and then the next and the next and the next. The difference is that the potato chip saps you and leads to lethargy and obesity while effort energizes and brings rewards.

You don't fill your plate with a huge helping of effort and force yourself to consume it all in one sitting. You graze on it. you take small bites and baby steps. If a little is all you have to give today, you pat yourself on the back and rest with the fulfilling knowledge that you have done something toward your goals.

But small efforts lead to large surges of energy and productivity.

Yet, they are simply made up of multiple little efforts.

We are not big block people. Most of us can only carry small loads, but we can keep coming back for more,. Soon the work load begins to organize itself and we start to see results. The results, even small results, give us such a lift that we can keep going.

For five years in a row, our church built houses in Mexico one week every summer. When we would arrive on the site, the task would always seem daunting. The first day always involved mixing cement by hand and laying a foundation. It was seemingly endless, tiring, back breaking work, but we could complete it in one day and one wheelbarrow at a time.

We went home late on those Mondays and slept well in our tents after a well-earned dinner.

The next morning we would return to the work site and were immediately invigorated by the sight of a hard, smooth, finish foundation.

Laying the foundation is always the hard part and every bite of effort is worth it. Give the effort, even in small segments, and reap great rewards.

Here is an acronym for effort:

Energy - Effort is spending energy - little or much. You decide, but there is always something to spend.

Faith - The word comes from the Greek, "pistis," from which we get, "pistol." faith launches us in much the same way a pistol launches a bullet.

Fulfillment - Well spent energy has its own sense of fulfillment built in. the reward is present in the deed.

Optimize - It pays to be wise and to spend energy and effort where it is most useful. However, we should not use this as an excuse for delay. Efficiency will reveal itself in the course of doing the deeds.

Reward - There will be rewards for effort. Some are immediate and  most are eventual.

Time - The results of effort are cumulative over time and they are like a geometric progression branching out in all directions beyond our control.

Put out some effort today and expect some results.