And the award goes to...

I’ve heard the words, “Lifetime Achievement Award” before but never really paid much mind to them. Honestly, I could sort of care less, however when I heard it mentioned twice within a short span of days, I started to fixate on this phrase enough to poke around at it a bit. Come to find out that one could receive a Lifetime Achievement Award across an array of categories ranging from music and film to architecture and athletics and most everything in between! So, I picked the “gold standard” of pop culture categories, The Academy Awards, to get a taste for who’s being recognized. From what I gather, LAA’s are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the course of an entire lifetime or career, rather than just a single contribution. Interestingly, one of the first LAA’s given by the Academy was to Walt Disney in 1931, for his creation of the now iconic Mickey Mouse. Walt was only 30 years old at the time. Sadly, Walt died in 1966 at the seasoned yet still relatively young age of 65, but imagine if he could have lived long enough to realize the true impact of that little mouse 50 years later! I’d say the man was well deserving of such an award but I think we’d all agree he’s certainly a legendary global icon without it!

Although our culture has its short lists of “special” folks slated to win a Lifetime Achievement Award, I believe there are thousands and yes, even millions of others among us, who deserve a LAA just as much if not more. You know who likely deserves a Lifetime Achievement award? Your wife. The social worker who gives of herself every day in the ghetto to care for the widow and orphan. The Rabbi or Pastor who has cared for and poured into his congregation for the past 30 years. The nurses and doctors and teachers and those in uniform who fight for our health, freedom and protection every day. 

Unfortunately, instead of valuing Lifetime Achievement, these days because of things like social media, reality television and the pace of shared information, we now live in what I’ll call the “Era of Micro-Achievement”. Micro-Achievements are small, bite-sized, edited for YouTube, accomplishments, triumphs, stunts, spectacles, and other adrenaline-charged moments that capture our attention or affection, but only for a fleeting moment. That’s all we have time or tolerance for, isn’t it? According to a Bloomberg 2014 report, humans have, on average an 8-second attention span, down from 12 seconds in 2000. That’s less than Goldfish, which have a 9-second attention span! On the one hand, I find it remarkable that we have such astonishing ability to quickly process loads of data and discard what we determine as waste and yet on the other hand, I find it saddening because I sense we are losing grip on the critical importance of the “long game”; this notion that says endurance, perseverance and yes, even pain and long-suffering at times, actually produces character and grit. 

Here’s a question to ponder. Would you rather be remembered for a micro-achievement (that half-court, hail Mary, buzzer-beater moment you had back in the day) or a lifetime of achievement (where you remained faithfully and lovingly committed to your bride, present and engaged with your children, devoted to your family and friends, a servant to the needy, and faithful to your God over the course of many years)? I think the answer is pretty clear. The problem is that the short game is way sexier and requires a lot less perseverance and the long game won’t make us trend on Facebook, help us to become a YouTube sensation, or garner more “likes” so I wonder if it’s worth it (wink, wink).

Consider these verses – 

James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

Galatians 6:9 - Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

2 Thessalonians 3:13
As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

Let go get it!