When I stand at a starting line there are a lot of emotions attached to that minute before they say "GO!" I feel excited and strong yet anxious and a little afraid I won't finish and I almost always feel like I have to go potty the second before the race starts. It ALWAYS feels good to finish! But the distance between the starting line and finish line can be so long. There's this space between that you have to tell yourself to keep going.. sometimes it's an easy run and sometimes it's challenging. My journey has been like that. I have to remind myself that I'm not racing against anyone else and it's just myself and when I get to the end I'll get there. A few months ago I accomplished a goal to run 100 miles in a month. I felt so proud! The following month I set another goal to run 125 miles in that month and unfortunately I didn't accomplish this goal. When I hit the middle of the month and accepted the fact (or maybe I just gave up) that I wouldn't reach my goal, I stopped running. I am not good at failing. I can beat myself up for a long time. Honestly since then I have ran, but not like I was used too. I made excuses why I "JUST COULDN'T" but they were just excuses. I really believe I hit a patch of feeling disappointed in myself and although I didn't give up entirely, I did allow myself to be stagnant for a while. Why do we do this to ourselves? We beat ourselves up if and when we fail or go backwards. It's as if there's only one starting line. I am finding the truth to be the opposite... there are many starting lines. Each morning can be a fresh start. You can set a goal to stay on track for a whole week and the next Monday you can start a new week... a new starting line. I don't know.. I was thinking maybe if we take the pressure off of ourselves to be perfect for a whole week or a whole month, taking it one day at a time can be more attainable. My pre journey days, I would say, "I'm going to start on Monday" or "I'm going to start Jan 1st" why not start now? Why not let this morning be a starting line and when you go to bed tonight, let that be a finish line and start again tomorrow morning? I have found breaking down my goals into smaller goals helps so much. My manager for Weight Watchers has maintained her weight for over 10 years. She recently told me she still sets weekly goals. There is always a fresh starting line. I decided to stop beating myself up and am going to attack that 125 miles in September. What can you set as a goal for today? For this week? For the month? This is YOUR journey! You get to choose the rules and goals. You get to say where the starting lines and finish lines are. Just because we "mess up" doesn't mean we are failures.. it shows that we are working towards something. I am proud of you for working towards goals. That is the only way you'll move from here to there. Start now and start tomorrow and start again tomorrow afternoon... just keep starting.
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