There were only two of us at yesterday’s church service. It was very disappointing and a little depressing. As I was driving over to the dog park afterwards, I remembered a talk my mentor, Jack Boland, gave many years ago. The talk was about how to achieve your goals and the process you need to go through.

As Jack said, there are three forces that you need to work with (or against) in order to reach that goal. The first, which Jack called “First Force,” is the one that pushes you to make the goal and start doing what needs to be done to achieve it. You make plans, list goals, get what you need, etc. First Force fills you with excitement and enthusiasm for the path you have chosen and your feet and fingers fly through the tasks.

But gradually, “Second Force” takes over. Things don’t go as planned. You run into stumbling blocks and misunderstandings. Things are just not working out as well as you thought. And your once enthusiastic friends and family are telling you that you made a mistake and you should just give up. To make matters worse, you are beginning to agree with them. You just want to give up in the face of all the problems. As Jack said, most people do give up when Second Force hits. They decide they just don’t have what it takes and their family is probably right.

But if they just hang in there and keep working, they will finally see “Third Force.” Third Force is when everything falls into place and you reach your goal. It is not an ending, but a beginning. You’ve made it through the tough times and have finally gotten what you wanted.

Right now, I’m facing Second Force with the church and dog-related business. Some days, I just want to give up and quit this whole thing. After all, I can always do what I've always done. Why change careers now? And so on and so on. But each time these words run through my mind, Jack’s words come back to remind me what I’m working for and how to reach the goal.

So if you’re also working toward a goal and finding it difficult to go on, remember Second Force and how it will work to prevent you from reaching your goals. Don’t let Second Force cause you to quit. I won’t. I will continue to work towards the goal of having a viable and energetic church of pet lovers like me. I believe that I need to work with pets and their people and I intend to do so.

So keep those goals in front of you and keep plugging away. Soon Second Force will give way to Third Force and you will achieve your goal.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...