Something I read recently rings a bell for me.  It is by a guy called Phillips Brooks.  What is written is not a direct quote but very close.  “Someday, in years to come, you will be trembling under the great sorrow of your life or wrestling with the great temptation. But the real struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer.”
I have felt for ages that the most telling times are not when going through a fiery trial or difficulty, but the quiet times before.  To me that is the time of testing.
It is when things are going smoothly and seemingly in cruise control that I find I am most vulnerable.  That is when I am most likely to lose sight of what matters and concentrate on the mundane to the exclusion of what matters most.
When faced with difficulty I know I fight and resist and do what needs to be done to overcome.  Yet it seems to me if I have neglected to use a quiet time, a time where strength can be built, I am more likely to lack the strength when I need it for the fight.
That is not to say that all life should be austere.  Life should be balanced.  As has been said there is a time for everything.  As far as I am concerned there is a time for celebrating and a time for relaxing.  But to me there is also a time for preparation.  Neglect any one of these and my life will be unbalanced, and I will be more inclined to topple.
From my experience it is not profitable to concentrate only on one thing to the exclusion of other things.  They may not be the main game but to me they are just as important.  I liken it to a building.  Much I do concerns the structural strength of the building which is me.  If I don’t have it my building lacks the integrity of strength.  But if I lack the other things the building which is me looks incomplete of missing what is needed to make me strong, balanced and not an eye sore.
Right now is a quiet time.  I have things to do.

When I was at work there was a challenge I would face regularly.  Usually it occurred early afternoon.  A real drowsiness would come over me.  I had a decision to make at that point. Choose right and I was right for the rest of the day.  Though in reality it was hardly a decision.  There was only one way to go if I wanted to keep my job.
I needed to resist the desire for sleep. To choose to do something else.  Normally the desire for sleep would pass.
To me it is not what I face that counts so much as what I do with what I face.  From what I can tell everyone has decisions to make.  Some are minor and with little real consequence.  Some are major and determine my future.
The sleeping decision was one where I really only wanted to go one way, though I did have a choice.  As I have gotten older and am no longer required to turn up to work each day the decision is different.  Often these days I choose to have a sleep because I can.  I tell myself I will do more after the sleep.  That sometimes happens and sometimes I camp in front of the tv.
True story.  In Townsville I knew two elderly gentlemen who attended the church I went to.  They lived in the same house.  They sat together in church.  Their names were Ernie and Bert.  Both faced the same decision I did while at work.  I think they chose sleep.  Or else Bert was fascinated with the ceiling and looked up at it for long periods.  But I don’t think so.  Judging by the way is head was back, his eyes closed and mouth open.
I was reminded of that this morning as I knew I had a decision to make.  I know I made the right decision.  I had a choice, and in that moment I took a step in the right direction.  That was all it took.  Making a choice by doing something that was a first step for acting in a way I wanted to.
That negated all other possibilities and made me want to do what was best for me to do at the time.
Sometimes I get things right.  Sometimes I do not.  It is nice though when I feel I am on the right track.

Once is ignorance and twice is negligence.
Years ago I had something to do with sponsors.  There is a protocol that is followed.  I was learning as I went.  It was all new to me.  I remember I did something that meant his business was not promoted as expected.
I could see where they were coming from, so I wrote to the guy apologising.  The letter included the statement above “once is ignorance and twice is negligence.”  He was great and we enjoyed a good relationship.  But I never forgot that part of my letter. 
I admit it has become a bit of a mantra of mine.  As far as I am concerned everyone is entitled to a mistake.  In fact, what is said above can be varied depending on the heart of the person involved. 
My thinking is very much “are people affected by the action.” Where I answer yes, I feel I need to take action immediately.  I cannot afford to see people adversely affected.
But by the same token there are things where people are not affected, and more time can be given to getting it right.  I remember I was encouraged to use a certain email.  I had been using another.  What was needed happened but using what was recommended was better.  It took a few times, but I got it right in the end.
I just do not think it is right to expect perfection of another when I know perfection is not me.  Everyone I think needs room to grow.  I was very grateful this seemed to be the philosophy of my boss at work.  Make a mistake once and it is understandable but make it twice and I have a problem.
I am seeing a lot of rushing to judgement at the moment.  There seems to be little scope for error or the sense of walking in another’s shoes (consequences are a given, my actions are a choice).  I remember from somewhere someone saying, “the definition of a friend is someone who, when you make a mistake, does not think you have done a permanent job.”
Making mistakes comes with the territory.  Forgiving and assisting is and always will be my choice.