What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.
John Ruskin
1819 – 1900
In my family, one of the joys of summer is a day trip to the Alabama Gulf Coast. One place we always stop is a busy fruit stand with a dessert cafe in the rear. I particularly enjoy their locally grown peaches, and I’ve come to treasure this large, sweet fruit.
But when we stopped one year, I was disappointed when I looked over the fresh peaches; they were about half the normal size. The owner of the fruit stand was sorting peaches and I asked why the fruit was so small.
“We didn’t get much rain in the spring,” he said. “So they’re smaller than usual.”
You’re probably wondering what we can learn from smaller than usual fruit. There are two extremely valuable lessons.
The first lesson concerns the timing difference between actions and results. The absence of rain in the early spring resulted in very small peaches in late summer. Often in life, there’s a significant timing difference between our actions and their results.
Think of the timing differences in life and the affect this delay has on your choices. If you eat a double fudge chocolate sundae, alarm bells don’t go off. There’s no instant reaction to eating unhealthy foods, because the harm isn’t done immediately. There’s a similar lag with many actions on the other side of the spectrum. If you pursue a fitness program or read for self-improvement, the results don’t manifest right away; the benefit only comes with time.
What these delays lead to is a tendency to indulge in things that give short-term pleasure, regardless of any negative long-term consequences. And we tend to avoid activities that give only long-term benefits while requiring short-term sacrifices. You should become aware of these tendencies and remember the example of the peach; the things you do (or fail to do) today will affect you in time.
The other lesson concerns potential. Studies that have tried to compare the actual achievements of men to their potential have unanimously concluded that very few people reach their full potential. Why not?
I think the undersized peaches give us some clues. The peach crop didn’t grow to its full potential because it was missing a vital component necessary to achieve its potential: it lacked sufficient water. And what about people? I think people don’t reach their potential because they lack some vital components needed for them to achieve more. So what’s missing?
The first thing missing is the awareness that we can achieve much more than we actually do. Without that awareness, we don’t develop the burning desire to achieve more. And without that desire, there’s no fuel to further our self-development.
You truly do have the potential to be more and do more than you’re currently doing. But unless you believe in yourself, aspire to loftier goals and devote time to self-development, you’ll be just like those peaches: you won’t grow to your full potential.
By harvest time, it’s too late to improve; you need to act well in advance. If you aren’t happy with what you’re harvesting in life, act now to ensure the next harvest will produce the desired results.
For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7
Copyright © 2012 John Chancellor