My friend, Jim Sturm, directs the Looyenga Leadership Center at Minot State University and required his Leadership class to read my dots, then write their own dot as an assignment. For the next few days, I’ll be sharing some of the results.
Today’s dot was written by Haydn Schuler.
A few years ago, I took a trip to Yellowstone National Park, where my group and I spent time in the Upper Geyser Basin, the home of “Old Faithful.” As we walked the paths in the area, our group was met with a decision. Take the shorter and less strenuous path around the “Old Faithful” area or the longer path with slightly more terrain to navigate. The majority of our group chose the first path, while I and two others chose to do both.
On my excursion, I was presented with so many breathtaking sights, and at that moment, I didn’t realize the true beauty I had encountered. It wasn’t until I met back up with the group, we shared our photos and compared our experiences, that I realized the things they had missed out on.
Taking the shorter route often gives us the instant gratification we are looking for, but we lose out on the sustained fulfillment. Although it isn’t always fully understood at the time, by putting forth more time and effort, we inherently appreciate the outcome so much more. We have all heard the phrase “nothing good comes easily,” so stop expecting it to. Take the long way; it’s worth it.
