Dear students,
When I meet with students for tutoring, one of the greatest problems they have is that they feel overwhelmed thinking about what they should do in their lives. They see the future as a great mountain that stands between them and happiness, and they don’t know what they should do.
The truth, however, is that this great challenge in our lives is not a great mountain. It is actually just a mountain-sized pile of small stones.
We cannot move the whole pile, and we do not need to do so. We simply need to move one stone at a time. This is a very easy task; it simply takes a lot of time. The earlier in life we get started and the more consistently we work, the sooner we get the pile moved. If we start later, we do so with more strength and can move stones more quickly than we could when we were younger. Still, we simply need to move one stone at a time. In the long run, routine and consistency accomplish much more than any great moments of action.
The stones of which this “mountain” is made are the tasks of our lives–the duties we are to fulfill. Some of these duties only need to be done once, some of them need to be done everyday. Some of these stones are chosen by us, some of them are commanded by others.
These stones include tasks like:
- waking up at a good time
- getting washed and dressed well
- reciting daily prayers
- reading a lesson
- taking a quiz
- completing an assignment
- doing a chore
- eating a healthy meal
- taking care of our body
- cleaning up after ourselves
- working to earn things we need
- paying our bills
- resisting temptations to do evil
- helping others
- keeping the precepts of the Church
- honoring those on whose help we depend
- going to bed at a good time
We have no choice in life but to move this pile of stones. We can ignore the rocks, but they will simply remain in our way. If we don’t move them, we will never be happy. We can complain about the rocks, but it will do us no good. We have to move them to be happy. We don’t need to work hard to move them, for they are easy to move, we simply need to move one stone at a time and continue doing so, throughout the day, every day.
As you start your day, make a list of the stones you need to move today. Then, move them, one by one, throughout the day. When you get done, make another list, and move them, one by one. This is all you can do. Nothing else is in your control.
Don’t worry about the “mountain”–it’s only an appearance. Just move the next stone.
You will be happy knowing that you are moving stones and will find that happiness comes in moving the stones, even if a great pile remains in front of you.
Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
mail@classicalliberalarts.com
