I finish lacing up my tennis shoes and glance at my watch as I head out the door for my morning walk. Although the kids have been in school for a week now, we are anticipating another hot, summer-like day and an early out for the students; but for now, the air still feels cooler and I take a deep breath convincing myself to continue down the road rather than opting for a cup of coffee on the porch.
My mind wanders as I head toward the park and I think about the things I have planned for the day as well as for the coming season. Now that the kids are back in school again, it is time to step back onto the path toward those goals once again. The summer flew by and much of my time consisted of running after my children as they pursued their activities. Although I loved every last second of it, it is rather refreshing to slow down my pace at least a little bit with the change of the season. It seems that with the rush of summer, it is easy to let personal goals fall by the way side. I know that in my case, I purposely set aside some of my goals with the intent that I would pick up where I left off when the kids went back to school. Perhaps you did the same.
But then there are the goals that are a personal challenge in the first place, such as our bad habits, and are easy to lose ground on when we find an excuse. Perhaps you had exercise and weight loss goals and made progress throughout the first part of the year; but with the hustle and bustle of the summer, you lost track of your exercise program, gave in to unhealthy foods, and even gained a few pounds. Maybe you had planned on saving money to put toward a bucket list vacation, but ended up spending the money on other expenses. Perhaps you had planned to spend more quality time with family or find time for yourself, but in an effort to "get all your work done" before you could "allow" yourself time for personal gain, you ended up rarely finding time for the things you would have enjoyed. Whatever your goals, perhaps you took one step forward this year, only to find that you took two steps back in recent months. That is okay. We could get caught up in blaming others and finding excuses for our recent lack of progress (that is easy to do) but ultimately we are each in charge of our own decisions each day. The year is not over yet!
It is time to take a deep breath, accept our lack of progress and add these items to the list of goals once again ... no need to give up and take five steps back! These goals should not be viewed as "failures" or things we are unable to achieve. These goals should simply be viewed as our greatest personal challenges ... ultimately, they may be our greatest accomplishments someday ... we are bound to get it right eventually! Now lets turn ourselves around, tackle these challenges, and take "one step forward" toward that goal line once again!! I know we can do it. Are you with me?
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