Bruges, Belgium

After a wonderful time away, it is good to be back in Australia and back blogging with you.

Home at last, I was recounting one of the more unexpected adventures of the trip.

It was in Bruges, Belgium where I overheard that Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child is housed in a local Church, recently depicted in the movie Monuments of Men.

Ever since I saw first Michelangelo’s David in Florence and his Moses in Rome, I have marvelled at his God-given gift to bring stone to life.

Knowing my walking restrictions, I calculated exactly how far it would take to get there by foot and started out.

When I finally arrived at the Church, it was locked and empty. I managed to sneak through a side-alley door and saw a sculpture of Mary holding an infant Jesus, but after taking a few pictures, I realised that this was not it.

I had ended up even further away from the real Madonna and Child than where I had started. It’s tough when you have worked so hard and moved so far only to find that you’ve arrived at the wrong destination.

In that situation, in life generally, there’s only one thing to do: keep going.

Rather than camping at your mistake, misdirection or wrong destination, I would encourage you to get up, gather your strength and make a change.

Learn from your mistake but don’t let it dampen your resolve to get to your passion.

Your passion could be raising great kids, becoming a generous giver, health, a strong marriage, business success, running a marathon, or an intimate relationship with God.

You will only ever get there if you are heading in the right direction.

There is a difference between moving and moving in the right direction. The difference is velocity.

Speed is all about how fast we move whereas velocity is all about the rate at which we change our position. Velocity is speed with direction.

Many people can be in a frenzy and have great speed but end up back where they started. Others know the direction they want to take but fail to act and procrastinate along the way.

If you’re a leader, building team takes you to a great destination and changes your future potential. If you’re a spender, budgeting and saving money causes you to become generous. If you’re a parent, nurturing, loving and passing on morals causes you to raise kids you will be proud of.

Three questions for you:

  1. Is there a lot of activity going on in your world?
  2. If so, is that activity moving you, changing your position?
  3. If so, are you moving in the right direction?

The key is making sure you’re heading in the right direction. Speed is important, but so is direction.

After adjusting my direction, and even though I was now moving at a much slower pace, I did eventually find the Madonna and Child that day and it was truly beautiful. The journey was certainly well worth it.

Imagine where you could be, or what you could see, if you became aware of the direction you were heading in?

Phil