ACTIVITY VS. ACCOMPLISHMENT

One of my favorite quotes is from John Wooden. "Don't mistake activity for accomplishment."

The world is full of activities. I think it's safe to say that we are probably the most active people in history. We're constantly finding the new thing to do or read or listen to.

Kids are especially active. They go to practice, then to class, then lift weights, then play in the band, then they go to their churches, and then they find they have an extra hour or two and fill it with something else to stay busy. They do exactly what they're told because they are told to do it. At the end of their high school career they have been an active participant in their schools, church, and community and accomplished nothing!

If you'd like to argue that being active is an accomplishment, I'd say, you're right! That's the problem. A lot of people believe being active is a substitute for accomplishing something. I learned the difference very early in life, thanks to my parents and their determination to teach me how to work.

My mom and dad used to make me pull weeds in the back yard. My back yard was an acre of dirt and woodchips. Weeds grew everywhere. The first time I went out to work in the yard I was grumpy that I had to do it. I pulled weeds until I had spent the time I was supposed to and then I went off to do something fun.

The next Saturday my dad asked me to help him pull the weeds in the back yard again. This time he gave me a specific area to work on. It took me about half an hour to finish because I knew that the faster I worked the less time I'd have to spend. I was happy to get the task over because I had other things I wanted to do.

Working in the yard became a tradition I dreaded. However, one Saturday, I did something I hadn't done before. I looked back on the area I had weeded and noticed how much better it looked than the area I hadn't done. As I looked over the yard something happened in me that hadn't happened before. I imagined how a clean back yard would look and how hard it would be and I challenged myself. I decided I wanted to weed the entire back yard. I wanted the entire thing to look good.

I must have spent 5 hours pulling weeds. I remember the discomfort in my arms and back but that was just a sacrifice to accomplish my goal. I imagined how the field would look when it was done and I pushed harder. I worked through lunch. I got sunburned. I still remember the acid taste in my mouth from the weeds.

As I reached the last few feet of weeds I was exhausted. I kept telling myself that I was almost done. Just one more. When I pulled the last weed, I stood up and looked back over the yard and I knew I had accomplished something. The feeling of setting a challenge and doing it was awesome. After that experience I couldn't see a weed come up in the yard without feeling like my work was being undone.

The sign that a person has challenged himself is ownership and responsibility. He doesn't need to be told what to do. He'll do whatever he thinks will help him reach his goal. When my football players decide to accomplish the task of playing in a State Championship game they will make the sacrifices that need to be made because they are working on a goal, not because I'm making them do it.