Keep Your Goal In Sight

Keep Your Goal In Sight

Its’ a story I read a few months back and liked it very much and therefore would like to share with you all.

Ahmed was seated in the lounge at the airport in Mumbai, waiting to take the midnight flight to London. He had reached the airport hours before schedule and was already tired of sitting idly. Oh, how many times he had mentally rehearsed his speech for the all important meeting in London. Tired of idling around he decided to take a stroll – after all he had checked in his baggage and was still almost an hour left before he would be let inside the gate.

Ahmed went out for a stroll. After the crowd and the noise inside the airport, the cool air outside and the quiet of the night were a welcome change for Ahmed. He decided to venture a little further, after checking his watch. Going further down, he noticed a lone machine on the sidewalk. He was drawn by curiosity to the machine. It turned to be a simple weighing machine. Acting on a childish impulse, Ahmed took out a coin and inserted it in the slot. A card popped out and Ahmed was stunned to read it. It said: “Good evening, Mr.Ahmed you weigh sixty kilos. Hope you enjoy your midnight flight to London.” By God, how could a simple machine know his name, and his plans! Amazing!

Ahmed was tempted to try checking again, to see if it was all really happening. He went through the procedure of positioning himself correctly and inserting the coin in the slot. The card that came out then read, “Good evening, Mr. Ahmed, you still weigh sixty kilos. Hope you enjoy your midnight flight to London.”

Now Ahmed was truly taken aback. He still couldn’t figure out, how a simple machine could tell so much about him. He had to know. It was getting more and more curious. He stood wondering on the various theories and possibilities that could have gone into making the special machine. He mentally worked out many combinations. Nothing seemed convincing.

After a while, he decided to test the machine again. This time he carefully removed his heavy shoes and jacket and placed them at a distance from the machine. He then stood on the machine and inserted one of his last coins. The card that came out then read,” Good evening, with or without shoes and jacket, you are still Mr.Ahmed and you still weigh sixty kilos. You just missed your midnight flight to London.”

How many Ahmed are there among us? Most of us. Distracted by happenings, real or imagined, we lose sight of our major and immediate goals in life. Distracted and led on a fantasy trip, Ahmed let go of his immediate goal-that of catching the flight out to London. There are ways out, no doubt. However, imagine the waste of time money, effort, anxiety for both Ahmed and his family members who would be waiting for him, and a chain of other related upsets and disturbances. A meeting missed, having to answer people….

Most of the times we get into the things which are less important to us at that moment and waste our energy and time in doing things which give us nothing in return but frustration, stress and tensions.

As author Robert J. McKain says, “The reason most goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.”

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – William James