Do the Next Thing

“Do the next thing.” It’s really one of the best pieces of advice you’ll ever get. Whether you are trying to meet a goal, attempting to get in better health, paralyzed with fear, stuck in a bad relationship, unsure of how you’ll get through a tragedy – the answer is always the same: Do the next thing.

Elizabeth Elliot followed this advice in 1956. She, her husband, and their 10 month old baby girl were missionaries in the jungles of Ecuador. Her husband, Jim, was murdered by the people they were trying to minister to. Elizabeth recounted that in order to get through the tragedy, she just focused on doing the next thing. With that focus, she stayed in the villages and continued to minister for two more years to the people who had murdered her husband.

I first came across the wise advice – “do the next thing,” about 20 years ago when I read a book I checked out of the library – This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book was one of my favorites by the author, partially because it was his first book and he was only 23 when he penned it. I later became more interested in his wife, Zelda, she was as crazy as I thought I was at the time! But I digress.

In This Side of Paradise, the main character, Armory, is an egotistical Princeton University student who is looking for the meaning of life through wealth and greed. He receives advice from an old family friend, a priest, Monsignor, who is comforting Armory after a year of failures and blows to his ego. Amory isn’t sure what to do with his life – quit school, join the military, etc. Monsignor advises Armory to do the next thing. He admits that it’s very difficult to do: “I’ve only learned to do it myself. I can do the hundred things beyond the next thing, but I stub my toe on that one.”

It was at this same point in the book that I learned something about myself. Armory asked his elderly friend, Monsignor, “Why do I make lists?” I chuckled when I read that because it was my question too! I have always made lists. I still make lists! What I don’t understand is why is it so hard to do the next thing when you have a list right in front of you? Shouldn’t a list maker, such as I, be able to simply follow the list and do the next thing quite naturally? Nope. It doesn’t work that way. Either way, why do I make such lists?

Monsignor answered Armory: “Because you are a medievalist, just like me.” He explained that they were both consumed with a passion for classifying and searching for something definite. And so am I. In fact, I believe most of us are looking for something definite that fits neatly into our made up categories and this is what keeps us from finding happily ever after! Remember from my last post that real success, the inward kind, is not things. Although success of satisfaction is certain and real – it is abstract and looks different for all of us. It’s pretty hard to classify real success.

Doing the next thing can mean two things. It could mean just doing the next step that comes in order. Or it could mean move on to the next thing if what you are doing isn’t working. In other words, do the next best thing. The point is, do. It’s easy to make lists. It’s easy, especially this time of the year, to make resolutions. It’s easy to make a goal. And those are important steps, but they will get you no where until you learn to do the next thing.