Monday Morning Musings
Volume XXIV, Number 27 (Issue 1188 ) July 6, 2026
Time Flies…
.. and life goes by fast. Super-fast! So, take care not to miss the good parts by dwelling on the things that do not go your way. Instead, learn from your missteps and the things that go wrong. Then turn the page. Should that next page be blank, celebrate a little since you now are blessed with the opportunity to write a new chapter.
The fact is things do and will go wrong since not one of us is an agent unto ourselves. Other people and other factors are constantly at work and many of them will help determine how things turn out. Because the majority of those outside influences have agendas that may be at cross purposes with our own, there is little reason to expect that our plans will always rule the day. It was Prussian Field Marshall von Moltke who put this into perspective so well when he stated, “No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces.” More recent figures like Carl von Clausewitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower have employed their own versions of that thought to beneficial effect. Yet it in no way should be taken to mean all of the things in our environment are working against us. Sometimes we find friends and allies in unexpected places. Other times what is required is patience and perseverance.
There is a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer that I read on occasion and though it is specifically addressed to young people, I feel has universal applicability. It reads in part, “Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation…”
From time to time, I have used this space to share elements of my origin story as well as milestones and course corrections from my own journey. As one might expect, I have done some careful editing of some of those events both to forgo some of the boring details as well as some of the hardest lessons learned – things I would take back, or approach very differently given the opportunity. I imagine many of us feel burdened with comparable regrets. The thing is, I find as the days, weeks, months, and years fly by, rather than fixate on what is in my rearview mirror I am grateful for each new day and the opportunity that day represents.
Soli Deo Gloria
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
J. Keith Hughey
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E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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