Part of my commute to work is on Hwy 45. There’s a new bridge being built and for months there has been a lot of activity on either side of the freeway. Recently though, there was a dramatic change; both sides of the bridge were connected. It happened quickly; over the course of two days. All that activity that doesn’t seem to matter and then, BAM, a noticeable difference.
I spotted one of the workers. He was by himself on the bridge, above the traffic. I’d like to think he was bolting it together. It needs to get done and that responsibility has to fall to someone. If you stop and think about how a bridge (or anything) is made, it starts with an idea, then plans are drawn up, you look at what steps are needed, who needs to be involved, and how it’s going to get funded. Once everyone is in place, they need to start doing things, tearing down the old structure, hauling away stuff, ordering new materials, and putting everything in place.
It’s easy to see what you want the end result to be, but how do you get there, when each day it seems like there’s so little progress? I thought there was little progress on that bridge until one side was connected to the other. When cars can drive across it, that will be the most obvious milestone that progress was made. You can see the end result of everybody’s work.
I thought about that guy bolting the bridge together; bolt by bolt. How many bolts does he have to put in place until his work is done? How many other people are doing similar jobs? It made me realize that in order to make any dream happen, I need to make sure all my nuts and bolts are put in place and tightened before I get to see the finished result. Nothing can be skipped. A book doesn’t get written overnight. It gets written one sentence, one word at a time. You don’t lose weight by willing it to happen. It takes walking around the block or eating one less cookie every day. You need to do something, each day, to move you closer to that finished creation; whether that creation is a project you are working on, or the creation is you (note: you’ll be a new person either way).
What are the nuts and bolts of what it is you’re working on at the moment? When you keep plugging away at something long enough, there will come a point where you’ll discover there’s a noticeable difference from when you started. Eventually, all those nuts and bolts you tighten will get you to the other side and you will be rewarded. You will have something to show for your effort.
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