How to Eat an Elephant

Today began the first day of my last year of undergraduate school. The school I attend is a massive school, one of the largest in the nation, where the enormity alone is anxiety provoking. I have a tendency of having a distant future mindset. I set my goals on something, devise a plan to achieve that goal, and start eating at it. Unfortunately, the amount of steps, obstacles, and unexpected hurtles that can be tossed can result in a tremendous amount of apprehension.

I remember last semester I had 4 exams in the same week. I was stressed beyond imaginable from the amount of pressure placed on the perfectionistic behavior of my mind. Over the years I have discovered that when I study in relaxing areas rather than an isolating hard desk I retain the information better. Because of this self-awareness, I decided to go to my neighborhood pool to study. I have a sort of odd routine with how I do school, allowing myself multiple miniature breaks throughout my "study session".

During one of my breaks I called my dad and vented how stressed I was with the four exams back to back. He asked me, "Jaden, how do you eat an elephant?" In my literal and frantic state of mind I replied "people don't eat elephants, poachers use the ivory from the tusks". My dad giggled because I completely missed the analogy he attempted. However, when I started contemplating the question I realized, it is one bite at a time.

This little story, whether in school, in life, in goal setting, in faith, keep in mind one bite at a time. When I was younger, I had a tendency to compare myself to people I looked up to, specifically in the faith realm. My grandma 'ma' could quote any verse of the bible with her face lighting up exclaiming God's goodness. I strived to have a faith as strong as hers, but instead of taking it step by step, I'd go binge by binge.

The funny thing about life, even faith, when you intake to much of it at once, it can become overwhelming because you don't know how to digest it. I encourage you, take a step back, regroup, reanalyze, and only go one bite at a time. Don't let the big picture of the puzzle make you miss the puzzle piece right in front of you.

As my friend once told me, Psalm 119:105 thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The word only lights the path one step at a time at our pace and not the entire route. Each person's stride is different, meaning everyone will achieve their goal at different times. Just like everybody who will finish the elephant, some take longer than others, but it can still be done!

Keep going, keep your eyes on the prize, and remember God is ALWAYS on your side!