Canals changed the world. Think Panama and Suez, and remember those canals that connect the Great Lakes. One canal in particular is an impressive cut through rock that joins the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. The high walls of the narrow Corinth Canal in Greece are connected by bridges, and far below the rims wide cruise ships squeeze through the passageway. With so many cars getting door scrapes in parking lots, I am personally amazed at how the captains of larger vessels pilot through the Corinth Canal without banging the sides of their ships against the rock walls. Although the canal’s width limits the passing ships to a width of less than 60 feet and a draft of 24, even a person on a personal fishing boat has to steer carefully to avoid those almost vertical side walls of the canal. Paying attention isn’t an option; it’s a necessity.
We’ve all been through tight squeezes, where we must focus our attention. In the Corinth Canal there can be no daydreaming, no wandering mind. From one end to the other someone has to make sure the ship doesn’t hit the rocks. Many of life’s shortcuts are like the canal. We find ourselves trying to save time or energy only to realize that there’s a price of concentration to pay and a different kind of energy to spend. Here’s an analogy: College students who postpone studying for finals until the days just before the tests. Here’s another: Taxpayers who postpone gathering their receipts and documents until the days before tax day. One more: People who say they will change an unhealthful lifestyle or habit, but who wait until the doctor says, “We’re going to run some tests.” Finally, some who go on crash diets for summer bikini season or for the insurance company’s nurse’s visit that determines the cost of premiums.
Squeezing through life’s canals is a common process. We think we can avoid lengthy, steady, day-after-day trips by taking shortcuts. We believe we will find canals. The Corinth Canal cuts out about 400 miles of journey around the Peloponnese Peninsula. The Panama Canal saves thousands of miles. Shouldn’t there be a canal that allows us to avoid the long, plodding journey? When we can’t find one, we hustle to dig one. There’s always a price to pay for shortcuts, such as the canal toll, the expense of concentrated effort and care, or the danger that once in the canal we might find ourselves too big to squeeze through without some peripheral damage.
Just about every postponement requires us to search frantically for or to dig a canal.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pic+of+corinth+canal&id=A9D66692E3629F3488D6F85B824CDDC71C0F29EA&FORM=IQFRBA
We’ve all been through tight squeezes, where we must focus our attention. In the Corinth Canal there can be no daydreaming, no wandering mind. From one end to the other someone has to make sure the ship doesn’t hit the rocks. Many of life’s shortcuts are like the canal. We find ourselves trying to save time or energy only to realize that there’s a price of concentration to pay and a different kind of energy to spend. Here’s an analogy: College students who postpone studying for finals until the days just before the tests. Here’s another: Taxpayers who postpone gathering their receipts and documents until the days before tax day. One more: People who say they will change an unhealthful lifestyle or habit, but who wait until the doctor says, “We’re going to run some tests.” Finally, some who go on crash diets for summer bikini season or for the insurance company’s nurse’s visit that determines the cost of premiums.
Squeezing through life’s canals is a common process. We think we can avoid lengthy, steady, day-after-day trips by taking shortcuts. We believe we will find canals. The Corinth Canal cuts out about 400 miles of journey around the Peloponnese Peninsula. The Panama Canal saves thousands of miles. Shouldn’t there be a canal that allows us to avoid the long, plodding journey? When we can’t find one, we hustle to dig one. There’s always a price to pay for shortcuts, such as the canal toll, the expense of concentrated effort and care, or the danger that once in the canal we might find ourselves too big to squeeze through without some peripheral damage.
Just about every postponement requires us to search frantically for or to dig a canal.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pic+of+corinth+canal&id=A9D66692E3629F3488D6F85B824CDDC71C0F29EA&FORM=IQFRBA
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