With a telescopic lens, whatever is faraway is brought close. The more powerful and focused the lens, the clearer you can see the details. Vision requires a telescopic lens. The clearer you see the destination you want to reach, or the thing you are dreaming of, the clearer the path to getting there becomes. “Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets…” were instructions given to the prophet Habakkuk in the Bible (Hab 2:2). What do you want to do over the next 5, 10, 15, or 20 years of your life? Where do you want to go? What do you want to have or to have accomplished? As you adjust your telescopic lens, jot down the details or rehearse them daily until you can see your destination with your eyes opened or closed.
If you are a musician or song writer, let the completed melody or the lyrics speak to you from the future until you complete them in the present. If you are a student, let every page you read, every paper you write, every calculation you make, and every course you take become part of your vision, even if it is not clear where it fits in the overall plan. If you are working on a dead-end job or performing menial tasks, find a way to paint it into your vision of the future.
Just as unobstructed vision on a clear night can see patterns in the stars, a clear mind and a rested spirit can see visions and possibilities otherwise obstructed by stress and double-mindedness. Simplifying the vision, and detailing the steps to its accomplishment, eliminates vacillation and confusion. With discipline we can fine-tune our telescopic lens and bring the future to the present as we write the vision, make it plain, and walk it out.