Principal Report

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PATH

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen?

The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years." 


The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast? How long then?"

Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years."

"But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student.

"Thirty years," replied the Master.

"But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "Each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" 


Replied the Master, "Because when you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."

Of course we need to know where we are going. But…

It may be when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.
Wendell Berry

And…

So long as your desire to explore is greater than your desire to not make mistakes, you're on the right track.
Ed Helms

Because, after all, if you learn from every mistake, you didn't really make a mistake.
Vince Lombardi

Sometimes we can find a different route.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

Sometimes we may find a different destination.

How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.
Buckminster Fuller

One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, right here, right now, in this single, solitary, monumental moment in your life – is to decide, without apology, to commit to the journey, and not to the outcome.
Joyce Didonato