I was driving down the highway the other day, and as I moved the steering wheel ever so slightly from side to side to correct the cars direction in order to stay in my lane, it occurred to me that that is what we do in our lives on a regular basis. We make adjustments or slight corrections to assure that we are headed in the right direction. I remember as a busy University Administrator years ago, before they ‘let me out to pasture,’ that I would sometimes remark to my wife as I left for work that, “I am going to jump on my horse and ride off in all directions.” Meaning I had so many things pending and things that had to be done that day, that my mind was essentially going in several different directions. I am sure that many people feel the same way as they head for their work day.
During the day I would be involved in many different administrative duties and responsibilities. The things that I was involved in were often the ‘direction adjustment’ type activities. The day to day routine activities were the responsibility of the staff who were so assigned. My job, as the administrator and as I perceived it to be, was to seek and find better ways to do things, ways that would help stretch my budget a little further, ways that would ease the burden on my staff by making their job assignments more effective and cost efficient.
Correction is a term used in many different ways. When we think of a correctional institution designed to house convicted criminals, many will say that it is a misnomer, depending on how you perceive their record of making any of the criminals change their ways or correcting them.
I remember teaching a Psychology class when I was first employed at the University. I taught a course called ‘Creative Thinking,’ and there were, in the text, examples of people throughout history who were considered creative thinkers. Many of the examples given were of famous inventors and the struggles they experienced before they were successful. Many of them tried thousands of different elements before they found one that would work, for example, Thomas Edison, when trying to find an element that would work as a filament in his first working light bulb. Making adjustments or corrections is routine for those who invent.
Watching a toddler learning how to eat or to walk and the many adjustments that they have to make before they finally find their mouth first to put a spoonful of food in. The many attempts they have to make to stand upright and walk without toppling over is humorous to watch, but it is serious business for them.
Correction is a lifetime effort to improve what we do and how we do it. It reminds me of the Father’s Plan of Progression; that plan is an eternal plan where we will be making adjustments and corrections throughout all eternity, until we come to that point where we meet the criteria presented by the Savior, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father who art in Heaven is perfect.” Hopefully, the corrections we make will be finer and finer as we come near that time; our rough edges should have been mostly rubbed off by then. May we all be able to see more clearly to make corrections in our lives that will make us more effective, efficient and, hopefully, more happy.