Crazy thoughts running through my head lately. I went to our annual Terry Fox Run this past week. I love this event. But as I run I tend to allow my mind time to wander anywhere that takes me away from the fact that I am starting to have trouble breathing, my hips are beginning to ache, and I still have how much farther to go???? It’s all for a good cause, so go on brain wander away.
One thought that has stayed with me this week is;
why are we so obsessed with destinations and not thinking about the journey???
I am not referring to vacation, unless the journey is actually part of the trip. I am thinking about life in general. Since when is it all about the destination? Last time I checked, none of us are getting out of life alive. Now, I am certainly not saying that you shouldn't have goals, I am a firm believer in goals. They keep us on track, keeps us driven, give us something to work toward, even reasons to celebrate. What I am talking about is like most of us out there, I struggle with my weight. I always seem to be working toward that elusive “goal weight”. I am tweaking my diet, changing up my workout routine, looking into new and different studies, always looking for that one thing that will get me back on track. And, that is when I thought, but, what about the journey toward that goal weight? At what point do I concede defeat and just give up?
NEVER!
With a goal in mind, if you don’t enjoy the journey to get to where you want to be, you will just be torturing yourself. We learned years ago, that when we go away to our favorite little cabin in the woods, we don’t drive the freeway out of town. Instead, we take a slower, windier route. It takes a little longer, but it is a much prettier drive, less traffic, and we start to unwind into our vacay sooner because we are already relaxing instead of panicking to get to our little getaway.
Our journey’s in other things, like weight loss, or just a healthier life in general absolutely needs to begin as soon as we start on our path in one direction. We need to remember that the journey is part of the destination. If we don’t get that part, we may never actually arrive. We may be at what we thought was the end of the trip, but to realize that we are not satisfied and we need to keep going.
We also need to remember that just as in a road trip, there may be flat tires or detours and they are still part of our journey. When we get home, don’t we tell people about when our tire went flat? What we did when we sat waiting for our turn during construction, what happened when we pulled over for a bathroom break without a bathroom. It is all part of the process.
We tend to let our own little diversions take over from our destination and then just give up. “Oh well, I ate cookies today at lunch, so I might as well just have that ice cream, and chips too, I’ve messed it all up now”. That would be the same as stopping on the side of the road to fix a tire and then turning around and going home because you won’t arrive on the same timetable as you planned.
It’s time to see those little step backs for what they are, just little diversions. Just get right back at it and continue on your trip. But this time, enjoy the journey.
- Find food that you like.
- Do exercises that you enjoy.
- Find a partner to go through it with.
- Try new and different things.
- Plan for a little diversion, and then get right back at it.
- The journey is all part of the process.
To be brutally honest, most of us will never reach our ideal goal. There are just so many things that take our focus away from that the goal-oriented things just become too hard. So, if that is really the case, why not plan to enjoy the journey. It may end up that your goal is not where you thought it would be but maybe it will end up being better. And even if it’s not, you have enjoyed the process. Why not enjoy it, what is your alternative, grumpy? Sad? Angry? Perpetually disappointed? Always sulking? We all know people that have chosen that route and it is awful to be around them.
So choose the adventure.
Choose to enjoy the ride.
Choose to do a little side trip here and there.
Choose Life and enjoy it.
You can always find a distraction if you're looking for one. – Tom Kite
