The Tweak

Michael and I sat quietly perched on stools in our kitchen. The lights were dim and Jude was asleep. It was a moment of resounding silence. A moment of reflection.

We wandered down the path of conversation staying along a certain trail which seemed to be pulling us rather than our own feet taking steps. The conversation, a certain decision which needed to be made felt important, bold, and weighty as if this one decision was setting the course for the rest of our lives.

I recently heard a story of a man who was putting his young son to bed.  While tucking him under the covers he said, “Son, what do you think would happen, if while traveling, you landed in the middle of a desert. And, while in that desert, you used a pair of tweezers to pick up one single grain of sand, and move it one millimeter to the left? What would happen?”

His son looked at his father, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. “I guess I would have moved a grain of sand to the left, and that is all,” the boy replied.

The father looked back at his son with the depth of the ocean in his eyes and replied, “No, son, By moving that one grain of sand you would have changed the universe!” The boy thought for a moment and then looked up at his father with shining eyes he declared, “I changed the universe!” “Yes you did my boy, yes you did.”

Sometimes we think a decision is just that. A decision. And it is, but it is also something much greater. A split second decision, a moving of a grain of sand, does have reach beyond our greatest imagination.

You pick up a book from a used book store. Inside there is a website which peaks your interest. On the website you see a blog. On the blog you meet people and one of the people strikes you as fascinating. You pursue the relationship.

As you pursue the friendship, you meet your friend’s friends. They are great. They want to walk the Camino from France to Spain. You go. It changes your life. You become passionate about France and the people there. You move to France and the day you arrive you go to get coffee at the nearby cafe. Behind the counter you meet the most beautiful and fascinating girl you have ever met.

In 6 months you are married and pursuing life as two!

Ok, so you get the idea. A decision is not just a decision. It is moving a grain of sand!

This was the power I knew our conversation at hand had. I know as a drop of water falls and ripples to the very edge of the puddle, so do the actions I take and the decisions I make.

We looked at each other realizing what had been laying heavy on our minds and hearts. We had a dream, a goal which still seemed out of reach. Things had moved slower than hoped for and the goal was starting to feel elusive. Burdensome.

It filled our minds with “hurry up” and “you are never getting enough done” words. It crept up on our peace and our enjoyment of the now.

The evening progressed and as we hashed through our thoughts and concerns, something dawned on us. We could just simply TWEAK our goal. Almost re-set the compass, and therefore our plan of action.

We breathed excitedly as we continued to talk and strategize. Ideas rolled from our minds as fresh as the morning dew. Our hearts lifted in anticipation and excitement. We had simply refreshed and TWEAKED our goal and it allowed us to press forward with new vigor and strength.

We moved quickly to grasp and capture our thoughts and ideas. We laughed at the intensity our discussion had brought to the room. But, as we looked at one another in new anticipation for our future, we realized we were indeed moving our grain of sand and therefore changing the universe.

Who knows where that one tweak of a goal, a decision, will lead.

Step back, TWEAK, re-set your compass, and press forward.

Question: How have you used the TWEAK in your own life?