Goals Need Adjustment

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." -Confucius

I went for a great run this morning. Like I always do, I start out excited, but by the time I finished the first 1/4 mile, I am ready to throw in the towel. What makes this even more disappointing to me is the fact that up until about a year ago, I was running farther, faster and more consistently.

It was February 2011. My competitive side got the best of me when my brothers set up a family challenge. The challenge was to see what team could run the most miles in a month. Just to give you a little background, this is not something that is taken lightly in my family, and my contribution to the team was 130 miles in shortest month of the year. Needless to say, my body may not have been as ready for the challenge as my mind was and I created an injury that slowed me down, way down. After that injury, I didn't have the physical ability to push the same way, but the greater toll was to my mental strength. It has only been in the last month or two, a year later, that I am starting to get it back, but I have to push through the mental barriers more than anything.

Disappointment can set in at anytime, in many aspects of our lives. It can be at home, at school, at work, or on a daily run. We can hit a rough patch anytime when we see our lives for what they are, imperfect manifestations of our own expectations. The hard part is continuing to push forward, when all we really want to do is to call it quits. The most interesting thing happens though, when we become focused and determined to not give up. We get stronger! It can become apparent in the goals of our lives. We will have set backs, and we may become discouraged, but we can always stand back up, brush the dust, dirt and grime from our scraped up knees and take another step forward. All we need is one more step. Don't think about all of the steps that you have to take to reach your big goal, think about the little steps that will still move you closer to that goal.

We have so much strength and power inside each of us. If we take the time to think about it, we can achieve more, and push through the things in front of us, that just seem hard. Let yourself see those things for what they are, and then, get up and move on.

So, was my run this morning great because I hated it at the first 1/4 mile. Emphatically, I say no! I did not quite, just because it was hard. I took one more step, about 11,000 times and finished my 6 1/2 mile run. That is what makes it great, I can look back and say, "I did that, I accomplished something!"

So, what have you accomplished in your lives? What can you do to take one more step forward? Well... off you go then, go do something about it.