Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.

-Dag Hammarskjold, 1905-61, statesman and Secretary-General of the U.N.

How many times have you heard this quote in some form or another?

The first thing that popped into my head was when I was taking riding lessons and the instructor would yell, “Stop looking down at your horse, look ahead or you won’t go where you want to go!” It was imperative to keep looking ahead even though my temptation was to look at the horse or the ground, but certainly not what was ahead of me – I figured that was the horse’s job.

The second thought that breezed through my brain was when I listened to Bob Miller of Mil-R-Mor Holsteins speak at a conference. He emphatically communicated how important it was to have goals on our farms, attainable goals, so we had something to focus on and something to work toward.

Many times I’ve often been told to keep my focus upward with my eyes firmly fixed on the Creator, letting all the circumstances around me, good or bad, dissipate. But this is not our natural reaction.

When troubles come we jump in with both feet and wallow around like a pig in a sty, wondering how we got there, complaining about being there without any mention of how to get out.

Without a vision, the people will perish. Obviously it’s imperative to have a goal and keep our eyes focused in the right place. But so many times we allow the circumstances of the day or the moment to keep us from working toward the goal. We focus on our setbacks, we focus on the injustices, we focus on our mistakes – instead of what we’ve accomplished.

I spoke at a women’s event not too long ago and after the conference, the women filled out evaluation forms. Out of all the forms they received, two women said I was “just okay.” The rest of the evaluations were extremely positive about me.

What did I dwell on? Those two women who didn’t like my presentation. Why didn’t they like me? What did I say to make them fill out a negative evaluation? How silly. But it happens far too often in my life and it may be happening to you.

That may be where you are right now, your eyes focused on the mess around you, feeling there is no hope and certainly the tunnel is black without even a glint of light. But you don’t have to stay there.

Take your eyes off your circumstances, fix them on the One you can put your hope into and take a good long gaze. He made it all, He owns it all and, most of all, He loves you – soak Him in.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.