Reaching For The Goal...

Goals, ambitions, aspirations, are they important? I think it depends on each person. For me, I would have to say that they are a driving force helping to give us another reason to inch forward. But, what are goals? The dictionary defines them as, “the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.” They are like a big trophy that we are each working up to. Goals and ambitions can be exciting to have and to cultivate, but there are also so many areas in life when our cultivation becomes an obsession. They also have a way of consuming us so wholeheartedly that on occasions the rest of the world around us becomes blurry. And at other moments they become so daunting that we let go and give up. As friends and family members of those who are working toward a goal, we should feel so lucky to be able to support and encourage them to achieve what they are striving for. Cheer them on when they accomplish them. It’s exciting.

Some Goals

In high school, I took a creative writing class. In the class, my classmates and I each wrote our own book throughout the year. This sparked a love of creative writing in me. Since that class, I have always wanted to write a new book and publish it and the one already written. It is something that I work toward, slowly jotting down different ideas and research. My goals go back much further than high school, as most everyone's do. I occasionally run across small notes and folded papers from “beginning of the year goal” lists. On those lists were different aspirations I wanted to achieve for that year and my future. Some notes shared the same goals and others were things that I either no longer cared about or had already achieved. A big one that was always on there was “eat healthier and work out more!” I can gratefully say that that is a goal I can mark as complete! One list in particular that I found, made me tear up a little. The paper was written around the start of 2015. I had a list of goals that I, at the time when I wrote them, was terrified that I would never be able to accomplish, and for the most part, I did. Through my fears, I continued to look at them and guide myself. Pushing myself toward something that I needed to prove to myself. I looked at them with a smile and felt excited knowing I was able to accomplish these goals that I could have dubbed impossible, but instead, turned them into a goal that I was able to kick my soccer ball into. Making myself feel stronger as if I just hit my PB (personal best) at the gym and am now ready to add more weights.

Work

Now, like most things, work is a prominent word that is the building block for our goals. No matter how many words we write down or dream about, without work, they will all just stay as dreams. Dreams are good. They are the base of our structure, but work is the step that turns it from a concrete slab to a building. I know that at times we hit a limit of our working toward our goals and decide it’s not worth it or it’s too hard and try to find the easy way out. But, what would life look like if it was easy? No one would find that satisfaction of knowing that they poured themselves into something and were able to pass their finish line. It could be a goal for our career, for our physical or mental wellbeing, a location we would like to live in, or even something like starting a family. There are no limits to what our goals could look like, and goals can shift, change, and grow. They can also be drastically different from someone who might be sitting next to you. Goals can only be exciting if we allow ourselves to become aware of the fact that things take time, willpower, dedication, and being okay with knowing that sometimes it takes more than one try. And once a goal is achieved, we don’t stop but push to the next. Constantly working to be the person that we see ourselves capable of being.

Obsession

A fine line is in between working toward a goal and obsessing over one. Working for a goal shows that you have excitement and a drive, but obsessing over a goal almost blocks out the outer world. Obsession is defined by the dictionary as, “an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.” God gives us a life with many different purposes and as we choose our goals and ambitions we want to keep the world around us clear. Yes, drive and dedication are necessary, but we can’t put our goal onto a pedestal. We can’t let it become so consuming in our minds that we hurt or push away other things and people around us. Obsession is like that one person in the group that is far too competitive and as a result, turns a fun friendly game into no one wanting to play. We want to be able to keep reason and joy in our actions and movements forward. Even when we get knocked down or take a few steps back from where we would like to be. It's keeping our heads on straight that will help us to maintain the longevity of our goals.

Giving Up

I am no stranger to giving up. For example, I gave up piano and violin when I was young. And man, I am so sad I did. It was a goal for me to learn an instrument (also a requirement from my mom for school). At the time, I was learning piano and it was so hard for me to learn to read music and remember each key. So I became obsessed with wanting to learn the violin. After much negotiation with my mom, I was allowed to switch. I acquired my very own violin and went to lessons, but I hit my limit or the place where my natural ability wouldn't be able to help me. Because it got hard I gave up, and now I look back with regret because I didn’t work past the difficult stage and achieve a goal I had set for myself. If we give up, it almost feels like we are giving into fear. What if I am not good enough? What if they don’t like me? What if I fail? What if this isn’t something I actually want to do? Why is it that we let those two little words dictate so much? “What if?” Okay, but what if you succeed? What if you were the exact person they were looking for? What if you realize that you can only fail if you give up on yourself? What if you just try it? Perspective is a mighty thing.

In Our Hands

People can’t make decisions for us and push us forward. We need goals, ambitions, and aspirations to help create a place that spurs us on. Whether they be big goals, little goals, or even those goals that are so big that we know might not ever come to pass. But why limit ourselves? If we limit ourselves we will never be able to see what we can do. What we are capable of working towards. We will never be able to answer the “what if?” question. The formula for a goal is hard work, faith, and a good amount of guts. No matter what the goal may be. If it was important enough to make it a goal, then the formula will need to be applied. A goal as simple as “I need to floss more”. Hard work, staying diligent to that goal. Faith, knowing there is a good reason for flossing. Guts, people have a way of making fun of us who are diligent flossers. Or a goal as big as a dream job in a high rise in New York.

Take note of that second to last goal, it is a good one. I hope this sparks an interest to pull out those goal lists so we can begin satisfyingly marking things off. Because of my goal to write a book, it persuaded me to start this blog, which has been a great way to stay inspired to write. I would love to hear about any goals that you have achieved or are still working towards! Have a great weekend, and if you enjoy reading my blog please share it with someone else who would enjoy it. Don’t forget to subscribe and follow along on my Instagram @theallie.way. Thanks for reading Allie-Cats!

• Dru Allie