One of the orchids I saw at the New York Botanical Gardens last Saturday.
So, the question is...have you hit the wall yet? What wall, you ask? Well, the one that says, I've already screwed up my goals/dreams/plans for the year so I may as well quit! I knew I wouldn't be able to do it...(expectation fulfilled?)...so why try anymore.
You know that wall, don't you? I sure do. Happens to me all the time. I have all these big plans. Great expectations! I can conquer the world attitude. Then, in a day or two, or maybe a week or two, it all seems to be crumbling down.
Failure once again? Nope. Just reality. Life happens and all of our plans seem to go right out the window. Well, I'm here to tell you one thing...if you're ready to throw in the towel, you're looking at it the wrong way.
Now's the time to get a cuppa, sit down in a quiet area...for those of you with kids, you may want to wait until they're in bed...and think about what happened. Where did it go wrong in your estimation?
There could be a ton of reasons. Like I said, life really does happen and sometimes in the most inopportune ways. Maybe you or someone in you family is sick sapping the energy right out of your body. Maybe there's a big project that you have to take care which requires all of your time. Maybe you're worried about the bills, or your kids,
Or, maybe your goals (I'll just use that one word but you know I really mean your dreams and your big plans.) are overwhelming because there are too many. Or you want to accomplish them all at once. Or maybe you put down goals that you think you should have but they really aren't what you want. Or, maybe you're structure is too rigid.
Take my day today. Now, on my Week At A Glance sheets, I have all these things down that I would like to do everyday like exercise, food diary, project sheets, etc., etc., etc. One thing I wanted to get done today though was to totally go through my clothes closet, set aside things to give away, and organize everything.
First of all, I didn't get to sleep until early this morning...like around 4:30am. So there went the early morning rising. It took me until 10:00 to get myself in shape to tackle the closet (after several cups of coffee!!!).
The other problem I have is that I seem to always underestimate how much time things will take. I figured that I could get it done in three, possibly four hours. Wrong. It took seven. SEVEN! I don't have that much stuff in there...really. And I got rid of one-third of my clothes. I counted. There is one large 30 gallon garbage bag completely full plus three file boxes!
So, by the time I finished all those little pesky chores like straightening out necklace chains...even those I gave away. (I put them in tiny plastic zip bags. The kind that you put medicine in! A bit over the top, right?). Checking the pockets of the items I gave away. Folding and organizing the clothes I kept checking for any mending needed. And putting away the clean clothes which have sat around for a couple of days. Etc., etc., etc. I realized that I had missed lunch and it was time to make supper.
What did I get done on my Week At A Glance Sheets? Not much. No exercise. No project time. I did keep the food diary this evening. But the important thing is that my closet is done...finished...completly. And with a little luck, I won't have to deal with it other than keeping it straight.
Okay, so maybe that wasn't on the list of goals but it was a task that needed doing. And now it's done. So tomorrow, I can go back and work on the WAAG Sheets once again. And you know what, even if I don't get everything done, trying is better than giving up.
My goal, for instance is exercising three times a day. So maybe I only get to it once. That's better than none. Baby steps is how to begin. And congratulating yourself for even trying whether you finish it all or not is the way to get there.
Look at your goals and make sure that there aren't too many (remember, I said about four). Look at your structure...is it too rigid for your lifestyle? Look at your expectations, Do you feel like you've failed if you didn't check off every item? WRONG! Give yourself a break. You're not looking for perfection. You're on an adventure to do those things, those dreams, you want to do. So enjoy it and stop being so hard on yourself. Okay? Okay!!!
Thanks for dropping by...
Talk to you tomorrow...
PS: Did I tell you that we got some snow? Only an inch, or maybe even a half an inch, but snow all the same. Course, most of it is gone now...but I did get to see the white fluffy stuff!!!