Having a goal matters. Every five years, I try to set a goal that seems like a “stretch goal,” or something I will be unlikely to reach without a lot of effort. Further, I find motivation from writing out my goal. It is as if writing it becomes a contract with myself. It is a commitment to attempt to be the person who can aspire to remake myself back into the fit person I was before MS. It is also a challenge, and I hate losing.
Five years ago for my 40th birthday, my wife gave me a gift of a trip to Yellowstone so I could run a half marathon and see Old Faithful that was on my bucket list (things to do before I die). Of course, running a half marathon there is no joke. It is a long run at altitude. So for months before the trip, I trained as hard as I could in the D.C. humidity. My brother-in-law who went with me asked, “what if you can’t finish the run? Will it still have been worth all the effort?”
I told him the answer I still use when trying something hard, “Failure is not an end point. It is simply a way of measuring my next attempt.” I finished the run in the top third of all finishers. I may have fallen a few times, but I finished thinking “not too shabby for a 40 year-old.” The effort paid off, and it would have paid off whether I finished or not. Having the goal gave me a purpose to keep running when I was tired or just didn’t feel like it.
Now as I approach my 45th birthday, the question was what shall I set as my “stretch goal.” With Covid 19 upending all of our lives, it may seem petty to think I need some physical goal. Travel is out as three of the six in our family are high risk patients. I needed something that would stick in my head and keep me moving. Then my little kids were listening to some old kids music, and I heard “It’s as easy as 1,2,3 baby you and me…”
The “4,5,6 challenge” is on! In October when I turn 45, I will have 6 pack abs. That challenge is just what I need to keep working out and even doing the 10 min ab burn at the end of the workouts. After 28 days with Chloe Ting, I am on to the “Beach Body on Demand” 21 day fit routines. Dropping the sodas down to at most 2 per day, eating healthy, and walking/running after our four kids has me well on the way. If I don’t have the 6 pack abs by the time I am 45, I will certainly have a healthier body than when I started. However, I plan to reach this target. I already went from 234 lb in March to 197lb now.
Congratulations on setting a new goal … Mine are simpler, and achievable. I continue to spend a few hours of each day making fabric face masks … presently approaching a count of seven hundred. i have also set a goal of emptying my inventory of fabric within the next three years, providing yardage free to others making masks … have distributed, coincidentally, 45 hundred dollars (cost value) to teams working on mask production here in Massachusetts. When the fabric is depleted, perhaps we’ll have a viable vaccine in place, and I will then close the shop, sell the house, and be on my way leaving the proceeds to my children (now adults and parents themselves.) i continue to yearn to be with Rick every day, tried but was interrupted a few years ago, and now realize I still have work to do to clear the decks before moving on.
Be well, treasure your time with your growing family, and try to keep those goals within reach.
I am thrilled to hear from you. It has been way too long, especially since the good old days at Strong at the Broken Places. I am sorry about how hard a time you are having without Rick. I can only imagine how I hard I would find life without J. I would be lost.
Do you have a favorite mask pattern? J has taken up sewing with her mom’s old 1970’s sewing machine. She keeps getting better and better at sewing, and sbe keeps finding/altering patterns to use. Her current one uses a flexible nose peace and doesnt fog up glasses because it has a goos seal acrosa the top. The only place it is a little loose is under the chin.
Please keep in touch. I miss hearing from you.
I love hearing from you Terry. It seems so long since I had contact w anyone from our Strong at the Broken Places crew. am sorry you are having such a rough time after Rick’s passing. I dont know how I would deal if J died.
I love the goal of masks. J jas been using the sewing machine her mom got in the 70’s to learn how to sew masks. She has been steadily improving the designs to the point where her new ones only leave a small gap under the chin. Do you have a favorite mask design?