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People think that when they arrive at a certain point, they’ll be happy. When they retire, when they get rid of this job, when they take that trip, when they meet that goal—then they’ll be happy. They’re goal-oriented, and there’s nothing wrong with being goal-oriented, but they have not learned to enjoy the journey as much as the arrival. Your happiest moments happen along the way, not at the end of the trip.
    There’s another false hope for happiness that I call someone sickness. That’s when you say, If I could just meet that person; if I could just marry that woman, I’d be happy . But you are the only one who can make yourself happy. No one can bring happiness to someone who is miserable. When we begin to take responsibility for our own personal happiness and realize that it’s through growth and growing experiences, even though they may be painful, that we become happy, then we’re really going to achieve.
    Another false hope for happiness is what I call backslider’s blues . That’s the affliction of people who are always talking about the good old days. They’re always talking about the past, which was always better than the present. They see only the good things, neither remembering, nor wanting to remember, the bad times. As the saying goes, “If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.”
    One last false hope for happiness is the problem-free plague. There are many people who want to get in a problem-free society, and they’re plagued with that hope. They say, Boy, if I just wouldn’t have problems, I would be happy . No, no, no! Problems have nothing to do with your happiness. In fact, in your stretching periods you will probably have more problems than at any other time, and those will be the greatest times of your life.
S TRETCHING I NSPIRES
    Few people stretch all their lives, but those few people inspire the rest of us. There is something within us that is thrilled to see a man or a woman attempt the heroic. The pioneer, the successful entrepreneur, and the victorious athlete all speak to us about the ability of the human spirit to achieve monumental accomplishments when properly motivated. Vicariously we share in their achievements and find hope in our own lives through them. What we need to do is to become inspirers of others, and the only way we’re ever going to do that is to throw our caps over the wall. When others see us climbing our fences, they, too, will begin to climb theirs.
    In the earlier part of this century, Charles Lindbergh thrilled the world by flying across the Atlantic. In his story, he tells how as he was going across the United States and over Canada and Newfoundland, he would look down, spotting places where he could land in case of problems. But there came a time when all he saw was the Atlantic Ocean when he looked down. “It was at that moment I realized there was no turning back; there was no place to land.” Charles Lindbergh had thrown his cap over the wall, and he inspires us because of it. He stretched.
P UT I T TO W ORK
    Let’s get to the application of this lesson. How can we stretch to success? Discover your potential . Get near somebody who believes in you. Discovery always comes in an encouraging environment. Find someone who will help you discover who you are and what you can do. Do something that you enjoy. I feel so sorry for people who work in jobs they don’t enjoy and live in places they don’t like. If you don’t like where you live and you don’t like your work, why don’t you quit your work and move somewhere else? Discover your potential by doing something you enjoy. Then remove the “if onlys” from your life. As long as you have “if onlys”—if only I could be there and if only I could do this, if only I could be that—you’ll never discover your real potential, because you’ll always be excusing yourself for what you are.
    Dedicate your potential . Give your motives to God. If he has your