I’m updating the FREEDOM TOUR website.
It’s learn-as-I go. Every time I want to do something new or different, it’s back to Google and YouTube and trial-and-error. It’s okay, though, because I enjoy messing with the details and figuring out how the code works.
With this kind of problem-solving, it’s pretty common to start down a path, spend some time, and realize there’s a better way. Then there’s a question: Plow ahead, or start over?
Last week I had to insert about 20 images in a specific spot. Partway through, I felt like my process was awfully slow. So I stopped and did some research. Sure enough, I found a much more efficient method. However, it meant tossing everything I’d done, wasting all that time and effort. Maybe I should just keep going…
Psychologists call it “escalation of commitment.” The longer we’ve followed a decision, the more likely we are to continue to stick with it – even in the face of increasingly negative outcomes.
It’s hard to admit we were wrong, that we wasted time, money, and effort.
So I was tempted to continue my inefficient, time-sucking image process because it felt like I already had too much invested to abandon it.
It’s silly, of course. The right road is the right road, regardless of where you are or how far you’ve traveled. And if the only way to get on the right road is to turn around and go back to the beginning, that’s what you have to do. Because riding the wrong road, no matter how fast you go, won’t get you where you want to go.
Put another way: It’s always the right time to make the right choice.
We’ve done the FREEDOM TOUR a certain way, with marginal improvements, for 7 years. Lots invested, tempting to just keep it going because it’s been pretty successful. But…what if God’s got something else in mind?
I tend to avoid seriously asking that question. I’d rather not imagine going back to the beginning and re-thinking any of our central choices.
Except – experience tells me that’s often what God asks me to do. Turn around, go back, and start over. He’s not concerned with the wasted time…He’s got lots of it.
Let’s not follow an okay path just because it’s worked pretty well. Let’s choose the right path, regardless of consequences.
Even if we have to start over.