Saturday, September 24, 2011

running

When I was a bit younger, I use to be a cross country runner.  I wasn't very good but it was still an accomplishment for me to get out there and run a 5K (3 miles), every week.   I really liked the training and I felt like I was part of something that was more or less self-competitive.  Of course we competed against the other runners but it was us (individually) against them.  We were all trying to do good for our school but we had to push ourselves to do our best.  I remember my dad told me, pick a time to get and the next race beat it by thirty seconds and continue doing that until you've accomplished the race in the 'ideal time.' I have always remembered that.   Because it was about setting a goal and slowing pushing myself a little harder each time.  So maybe from night to day it wasn't really quick but from week to week I saw a big improvement.  Not only in myself, but in my decision to push myself.  I wasn't just accountable to others but I was accountable to myself.  I had personally set that goal and I wanted to reach it. Okay so you are probably wondering what my point is... GOALS!!

Young Player
I won't lie, I don't really like goals. I feel like they cause added stress for the most part.  But I've come to learn especially on my mission that goals are all in how you look at them.  If you look at it with a negative attitude that it will be something awful that you have to do.  Of course you will hate it.  But when you look for ways to improve each day and then looking back you will realize how wonderful it was that you pushed through it. I guess you could say that we all have dreams, but we can't make it to our dreams unless we have goals to get there.  I know that is how Heavenly Father works, He provides us with something new everyday of our life and we have to make the choice to win the race or to quit.  Sometimes it is hard and we want to quit.  But as we set goals, like getting baptized, we can find ways everyday to accomplish them.  So I encourage you to all find a new goal to reach for. A new way that you can stretch yourself this week.

 “I feel that goal-setting is absolutely necessary for happy living. But the goal is only part of the desired procedures. We need to know which roads to take to reach the goal. … [People] need to make commitments with themselves by writing down their goals and keeping a record of the fulfillment of their achievements” -Bishop John H. Vandenberg

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