Journey to the Goal

Why is it that when I make a goal I think it will be this perfect path, similiar to my up arrow? However, every single time my journey looks something like the squiggly line I drew above on paint. I do seem to make my goal, eventually but I don't ever arrive quite how I expect. I think with any goal or growth plan life somehow always intervenes to cause a stumble. I like this quote:

"Life is like a journey and the destination is who we become."

Since we're nearing the end of the 5th week in 2009, and the yearly resolution to change some certain aspect of ourselves has slowly diminished into something we can't figure out why we would have ever wanted work so hard at changing in the first place, I felt this an appropriate time to talk about the journey. Some random thoughts dedicated to the journey of who we dream to become:

1. Do we stray when it gets too inconvenient or hard?
2. Straying from a goal isn't our ability to reason to the nth degree.
3. Pace. Follow the path to the finish line at our own pace. STOP looking to see how others are doing.
4. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. If we do this, we'll get there.
5. Think about the finish line. Focus on the person we want to become.

#5 gets me. Think about the person we want to become. This is saying, what are the characteristics we want to possess and how do we get there? Start at the end and work backwards. So when I'm 80 years old __________ is the type of person I want to be. Maybe it can't be described in words or maybe it could be summed up in a list, either way figure it out and go for it. But know the road is long and curvy. The destination is there but the journey will most likely be a long one.