Here were are, more than halfway through the month of January and 2018 is on fire! Your goals are set, you’re committed and confidently moving forward. That’s a beautiful thing! However, with the hype around resolutions, change, goals and an incessant desire to better ourselves, theres something more subtle I want to focus on.
Keep it moving !
The word is TRANSITION
Hats off to anyone fully committed to their goal. That said, life loves to throw us challenges,those lovely things things we don’t expect and that can at first seem insurmountable, but can provide us an opportunity to expand and grow. Salute to those of you who don’t know what your goals are, thats all good too.
Look around. If your eyes are open you see natural disasters, illness, injury, loss; challenges that don’t just occur in the gym. These challenges often create stress, anxiety, frustration and fear. Sure we all want to focus on our greatest moments and triumphs, especially at the beginning of a new year. Underneath that though, we are all human, and not everything is going according to plan 100% of the time.
No one’s life is perfect. Health and wellness isn’t about being perfect. Sure we set goals and do our best to meet them but lets not lose sight of what it means to be human. In the midst of our lives transitions and changes will occur that will influence our decisions and sometimes seem to thwart our ambitions to move forward. The key is to keep it moving. I think talking about this now, in January is super important because we still have an entire year ahead. Its easy to start something at the beginning. But what about starting in the middle or just plain starting over?
I remember something my Father said once. He told me, “wake up each morning and tell your yourself- ‘today I begin’”. It’s something that has never left me and that I use as a mantra and often share with my clients and students. Three simple words filled with possibility. When you begin something you don’t really know where you will end up. And keeping a sense of adventure as you move through your life is important. We watch reality television and tune into other people’s lives but I wonder why more people don’t have a sense of intrigue when it comes to their own life? I WANT to feel excited about what I am doing and hope that even at stressful times I can move through life with grace. I won’t always get it right, but that’s okay. There’s a lot to learn in the unevenness of walking through this journey.
Losing weight, getting to the gym, eating well, changing our lives, coping with with things we can’t control. Don’t we ALL want to attack each goal with an outcome of success? Sure. But in reality, we all don’t get a trophy. Pause. Think about how hard it is to lose weight AND keep it off. I know how hard it is because I help people do it. How hard it is to get the job you love or be promoted? Or find the right partner and be in a relationship? How hard is it to raise a child? ALL OF THESE are goals, and each one can provide a potential setback. How you find your way through the setbacks throughout this year is where the real GOLD is at. Its in the unexpected where we learn the art of SHIFTING and going with the flow.
What your goal is on January 1 can be completely different by months end. Where you find yourself July 1 can be a world away from where you are today.
So yes, set goals. Make them bold, realistic, attainable but also make ROOM for the unexpected because I can tell you from experience, one thing you can ALWAYS count on is change.
Peace,
Dani