The beginning is when we haven’t yet realized our potential. We have no idea who we can become. We struggle with that; the not-knowing. Finding our outlets, we laugh, we cry, we don’t always know how good we are. But we find ways to get by, sometimes falling aimlessly into space like leaves from the highest tree, spinning, floating, finally landing on a windless day. I have those days too. I spin, I float… I am not really sure when I will land. I listen to others. Their critiques, their praise… and I find ways to stay grounded. I am part way through I surmise, and believe that my best is yet to come.
MY BEST… not sure what or who I will eventually become, no one really knows that. But, I DO know that I have the desire and the drive to continue to grow, to become stronger every day. A stronger friend and partner, a stronger student and teacher, a stronger listener and leader. I want each day to bring me strength in the midst of my weaknesses. I ask for knowledge when I feel ignorant. I crave the patience to understand my shortcomings. I have many.
I was cleaning off my desk the other day and I found an old notebook. I opened it and realized it was from 2006-2007. Seems like a decade ago, even though it was only a couple years. I read some of what I wrote in there. There were notes from seminars attended, books read and cd’s listened to. There were poems I wrote in that time span, to do lists and most importantly for me…Goals. I write down my goals every few months. I like to check in every once in a while and see how I am doing. I need something to measure “it” by.
SO I read over my goals. “Have an indoor facility by fall of 2007″… Check. The lease papers were signed for ETC Nov 22, 2007.
“Look over the NESTA website and become bootcamp certified by fall of 2007″…Check. Better yet, both Julie and I became Adventure Bootcamp certified. Mine came dated 7/2007, a few months earlier than I had set my goal for.
“Speak at the chiropractor’s office, the local chamber of commerce, etc… within a year of opening my facility.”…Check. I have done both and more since then and have done them often.
Then, when I glanced up to the top of the page, I saw something that said: “What will bring you joy? DO that, and do it often.”
I sat back in my chair for a second, thinking about this. WOW…. SO I achieved a lot of what I had written down 2 years ago. In fact, I keep a running list of 127 lifetime goals… or… better known as 127 things to do before I die. I have checked off quite a few on there already.
I have a definite purpose… To finish stronger than I started.
I want to be better every day. I have a desire to find the answer to the real question… To the “What will bring me joy” question.
It burns deep within me. It makes the hard days easier. It creates my answers when I am searching through my desk and can’t find a single one.
The WHY… The reason behind my life’s purpose. I have asked and answered this question so many times… “What drives you… why are you here…What is your purpose and your mission?”
But this is a new one for me… “What will bring me joy…?”
So I sit here and ponder this. There are so many answers… I think they change daily. I believe in the fluidity of life, the ebb and flow and the rearranging of priorities. I know some days I am more inspired than others. Some days, just like that leaf… I, too, drift aimlessly awaiting a breeze to move me in one direction or the other…
Just like some times when I am writing, I am not sure what may come out… if my message is on point… or am I drifting through words? SO what do these five words mean?
I think my ultimate answer comes in the form of a quote…
“Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
OK, so it’s what I am DOING today that will bring me the stregnth to follow through tomorrow. One relies on the other. And so we find ways to finish what we start… stronger and better so we KNOW for sure that we will be strong when we need it most. In the tomorrows of our lives… those that are never on the calendar… the good and bad. The planned, and unplanned. We need to build our strength to finish. This journey is so open-ended… we DON’T know when that day will come when we will no longer be able to create and plan and work our plan. So we must have a goal in mind… a mission to carry out. And that is to finish stronger than we started. In everything we do. In everything we touch. Learn everyday. Do it better each time, with no complacency, no apathy. WANT to be better than when you started. Want to be a finisher.
Stronger.
Everyday.
