A Vision

"Without a vision, the people will fail".

I have found this to be so very true in my own life. In the areas where I have a "vision" or very clear and specific goals in mind are the areas that I do extremely well in. To say that I am a goal oriented person is putting it mildly. If I have a goal, come hail or high water, I'm going to meet that goal. Failure is not an option. Quitting is unthinkable. The only time I give up is when I have absolutely exhausted every option given to me. I'd much rather fail than quit. I'm pretty stubborn that way.

On the other hand, I can look around my life and see the areas that I am just floating along...or worse, struggling with. Those are the areas that I have no goals, no vision. No idea where I'm headed. Maybe a vague thought of a plan: "one day, I'd like to...", or "maybe I should think about trying ______". No way are those plans going to go anywhere, I guarantee. I just can't dig in and apply my heart to things that must not matter very much, or else I'd have a clear plan.

This summer, I had the goal of having my garden produce. Regardless of the worst drought in TX history, I was going to produce. I'm probably one of the only people in my county who was crazy (dumb?) enough to go through with it. And I did it. I had my garden. Even now, I have fresh tomatoes to eat.

While this vision business applies very much to my personal life, it is probably most evident when I wear my Homeschool Mom hat. When I have clear and defined goals and vision for what I want, and exactly where I'm going, I get there. When you know where you are going, the simple thing is to find the curriculum that gets you there. If it doesn't exist, I just make my own. The subjects that are clear to me are the ones with which we excel. The ones that I just can't see where I'm going are the few that we flounder on.

That's what I'm tackling and refining this week. After a nice vacation and break, I can see some things clearer, and am able to take a step back and re-evaluate for the coming rest of the year.