Pie in the Sky
Now, all you have to do to get your pie in the sky is build a set of stairs, climb your stairs, and when you are within arm's reach, reach out your hand and take it.
First thing is first, you must figure out what the design of your stairs will be. If you don't know the first thing about stairs, you might want to do a little research on that. Find a mentor who has managed to build a set of stairs to reach his pie, and find out what needs to be done.
Next, you will need to finance your stairs. You need to buy the wood, the screws, the joints, the tools, etc. You will need to account for any miscalculations or damaged goods. You might need to buy more wood, or even a few extra tools.
You might need to patch or replace some broken tools. You might need to re-asses your budget, so that you can have the finances you need to build your stairs to your pie. Ask yourself, What do you want more? Car payments for the next 10 years, or would you rather drive a used car and use the finance payments to instead build a set of stairs to reach your pie?
Next, and this I believe is the hardest step for most, you need to put in the hours. The actual work required to construct the stairs. You may find that you've worked really hard for days, weeks or even months, and you pull out your protractor and your compass, your GPS, and find that your stairs are not even going to line up with your pie. So you need to make sure that you still have the financing to deconstruct, buy new materials, and rebuild your stairs in the right direction. You need to have backup plans, backup means to continue to build your stairs, backup sustenance to keep you going until you reach your pie.
You may need to carefully balance your time, carefully ration your efforts so that you have enough for the present, and also to finance your pie acquiring project.
Building your stairs to reach your pie takes daily effort. Daily effort, and bi-weekly reassessment. It means you must know what you are working for, and keep working at it every day, not just every day for a month, but every day for years! Time management on the pie acquiring project must be carefully planned. You want to make sure that you can work on this project for the long term.
You want to make sure that you don't run, buy all of your materials, build for a month and then give up. You want to make sure you have balance of your current life, your time to rest, and your plans for the future. With proper planning, and careful pacing, you can and you will be able to reach your pie.
Your pie is right there, right above you, right up there in the sky. All you need to do is get to it. There are many people in the world who would say, "You mean I can have that pie... I can have that 1 million dollar house, I can have that $50K car, I can have that boat, and all I have to do is WORK for it?" "I'm all over that!"
Copyright © 2006 Rebekah Faith
Rebekah Faith, author of "Picking up the Pieces" is an inspirational columnist. She works as an offshore development manager; she moonlights as a writer, and is also currently working with friends and family, rebuilding a one hundred year old house.