Fire Triangle

¹“And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.” (Mosiah 4:27). A fire triangle outlines the three basic components every fire needs: heat, fuel, and oxygen. We can't have a fire without all three, and all three need to be in a proper balance. Too much heat and the fuel will burn up too quickly. Too much fuel and there won't be enough oxygen. Too much oxygen and the heat will drop too low. If we were to incorporate a fire triangle into how we think about the goals that we set, we might gain some useful insights. Our passion or our drive or our motivation is the heat. Just as we can't have fire without heat, we can't have goals without that burning desire to make our lives and the world around us better. The structured planning and purposeful effort and practice that we put into realizing our goals is the fuel for our fire. Just like building a fire with a bunch of small twigs and other bits of kindling, our first steps have to be very small and very numerous. Once we've got some momentum going and the fire is getting a little stronger, we can start to add the bigger sticks and branches. But if we demand too much of ourselves too quickly, then we will smother our little flame. It is perfectly fine and even admirable to want to build a big huge bonfire, but if we throw a dozen huge logs onto a tiny pile of burning kindling, the fire will get no oxygen and the heat will die out. If we add ten new plans and schedules that account for every second of our day and demand levels of willpower and commitment that we just aren't ready for, our goals and dreams are going to suffocate and die. The oxygen in our fire triangle of goals is time. A fire can only convert so much fuel into flames at a time. Given enough time, a fire can burn down a whole forest, but if we tried to light a big log with only matches, we're going to go through a lot of matches and not put even a dent in that log. Having the patience and the humility to start small and take our time and build things up little by little will get us where we want to go much faster than trying to skip all of the boring and hard stuff in the middle. Keeping our heat, fuel and oxygen perfectly balanced will make sure that our fire never burns itself out, and as we do all things in wisdom and in order we will win the prize.