It is not what you do, but how you do it.

The measure of a person is not what he or she has done, not what they have accomplished, but how hard, how diligent they were in working toward their goals.

I read those words in a book the other day as I waited to go into an appointment and I thought of all the times people have set out to try an accomplish something grand, only to discover a new path to somewhere new or to refine an old path to a place many have been before, but never looked at it in the same light.

The trick with life is that it is not about the destination it is all about the journey. The Nookta tribe of Native Americans call it the Great Way: the path that we must all travel in our lifetime toward whatever end— whatever goal there is awaiting for us.  Our measure is not how fast we get there, not how brilliantly we finish, but rather how strong we are on the entire journey.

Perhaps in Western Civilization, we are far too concerned with being judged along the journey rather than moving along it learning from our mistakes and our victories.  There is too much emphasis placed on judgment from afar by some spirit that is going to eventually send us to either heaven or hell. And in so doing, we have become a narcissistic society, interested in saving our own skin, rather than sharing what we have learned on our own journeys, so that others' lives might be fulfilled as well. What we set out to accomplish is of little value to the total purpose of the Great Way, but rather what we deliver to others as we move along its indelible pathway.

This is a holiday time where we celebrate the birth and life of Christ, who himself talked over and over about giving and sharing to others: the very essence of the journey along the Great Way. It is about the movement down that path, rather than the ultimate goal of that path, that is so vital to each of us.  We should not miss a day enjoying it, reveling in it and even understanding its lessons, both hard-learned and joyous.  In life and in death, in sickness, sorry and in health and celebration, the Great Way is a passage for us all to grow in and to share from.

So perhaps this crazy holiday season we should slow down. Stop even. And enjoy the moment. Remember friends. Remember family. Share in the delights of the world around us.  And look as far down the Great Way as we must, to set our sights on the steps we will take that day and then in later days, knowing not when the last steps each of us will take along the path. But remembering that in each step we take, we grow and we share the knowledge of that growth with those around us.

The measure of a person is really not in what they accomplished, but in what they shared from their experiences. My wish for all of you, is that you get to share richly with others and do so with an open heart and an open mind to receive back from them, the lessons they, too, have learned along the way.