
—Louis Pasteur (by Paul Nadar; Public Domain)
At how many points throughout our life have we known exactly what we should be doing, but allowed ourselves to get distracted by our emotions; by something “more pressing” at the time? How did that play out? What if we had refused to get pulled away in those moments and, instead, simply accomplished what we had thoughtfully scheduled for ourselves? Preparation is a funny thing. More often than not, we don’t see the critical importance of any one specific, focused task. But years later we look back and reminisce, “what if I had just….” A successful life is one in which we methodically work with each individual piece of the puzzle, no matter how insignificant any one fragment may seem, until we clearly see the beautiful portrait in front of us. Each piece was truly important, and each prepared us for what was to come.
—Mike Hazell, Penn Wealth