Targets, Aims, the True Reason

Over a couple of days I heard 3 different viewpoints of targets and aims.  The first one was about targets at work and what could be done to raise productivity or show improvement in the personal file of an employee.  We have heard so much about targets at work.  At times I get quite angry about the whole target-driven society in which we live.  Targets create an insatiable monster that keeps telling us that our best is never enough.  It seems that no matter how much we achieve, more is expected.  In many parts of society, schools, police, nhs to name but three, targets have often become the most important aspect of the work and not the life/work balance of employees or the people such jobs are meant to protect and help.  The whole system goes off course and the targets must be met at all costs.  It is a subtle form of bullying that has invaded all levels of living.  I can understand why targets and aims are put in place, often for very good, plausible reasons but so easily the target takes over and reigns supreme over the reason for doing the job in the first place.  The result is a false sense of reality of a situation; we are made to believe one thing when the reality is something different.


The second instance was with a young man who had decided that he would help his mother in the garden.  To date he has done a lot of digging, trimming, lifting and carrying, using a lot of energy and being a great help.  Some of the things he has done just wouldn't have been done at all if it had been left to the mother's efforts alone.  She was really pleased with the way he was offering to do so much and commented that maybe his dislike of gardening was changing.  His reply was not what she had expected.  Some time before his new found willingness to help with gardening, it had been suggested to him by a medical professional that he should really do a little bit more exercise in order to lose his quite substantial surplus weight.  When it was suggested that he was beginning to like gardening, he straightened up from his work and said quite clearly that he didn't like gardening, had no real interest in growing things and that when he had lost the required weight then she probably wouldn't see much of him in the garden.  At least he knew exactly what his target was and open and honest about the true reason for his efforts.


Then the next day I read a blog where the writer was telling about a young woman at church with whom she was having quite a deep conversation about relationship with God.  She commented about having a deep love for God and how we need to keep falling in love with Him.  The young woman replied that she didn't think that she had ever found that place of love or been 'in love' with God.  The older lady was a little surprised, knowing that her friend had been part of the church since childhood and always appeared devout and active in much of what was going on in the church.  Trying to understand just why she was a Christian, the young woman's reply was 'Jesus has been about getting into Heaven, Jesus has been about getting saved, Jesus had been about getting good'.  Some would say they go for the friendship of like-minded people (except they rarely see each other or know anything about each other's home life apart from what they see or hear on a Sunday).  For some, church and the whole Christianity thing is about the benefits to be got from it, a sort of check list that helps us to reach our target - heaven.  The aim is not so much about God and a loving relationship with Him but about the end rewards if we tick all the boxes and keep up the good work until we die.  This has taken the place of a deep friendship with Father Creator.

It may be good to have targets but lets make sure that they are our servants and don't become our insatiable, ruthless masters.  Let's be honest about what our targets really are and not try to pretend they are something they are not.  And please! let's not confuse the reason for our targets with what should be our real focus and objective, whether that be at work and the reason for our work, helping others or whether it be our faith and why we call ourselves a believer.  We need to ask ourselves 'What am I really aiming for?  Why do I do what I do?'