Broken Escalator

Last week I attended the Ecclesia Network National Gathering in Washington DC. The conference was both a reunion with some old friends who have been working in ministry for many years, and an opportunity to learn from some truly brilliant theologians and practitioners from different parts of the world.

During one of the large group lectures, one of the teachers showed the video above. He was using it to illustrate the simple truth that sometimes when we are stuck and frustrated and feeling helpless, the answer is right before us. The video is a commercial for a company called Becel, and personally I think it's hilarious.

I mean, doesn't everybody know that an escalator just becomes stairs when it breaks? Often times, we can be immobilized when things don't work the way we expect during our daily routine, but maybe when things stop working, or aren't producing the desired goal, we should learn to adapt.

During the conference, the example was given of the church and it's goal of helping people grow to be like Christ, but I believe the truth applies to any context. If you have a goal for your life or for your business or your career, and you aren't producing the desired results there are a couple of questions to ask when you hit a roadblock. One is simple--is the goal I'm aiming toward the right goal? (a set-back could be a good way of making sure we are still aiming for the real winning goal.)

The second question is this--How can I adapt my methods to continue working toward the same goal? If the escalator breaks, how do I reach my destination?

Hope you enjoy the laughs, and at the same time, take some time to ask yourself today--when the escalator breaks down are you stuck or are you adapting and using stairs?