Stress and the Goal-a-holic

Wow, as long as I can remember, I have been setting goals. Goals have to be made, you have a plan, the goals have to be met and then new ones have to take their place. Right?

Then I read, "let go of the goals"...my life came unraveled. What can this mean? I'm confused and dismayed.  This can't really work can it? This not only worked, but worked better.

One thing I  know is all the goals I ever made, were just that, goals. They didn't become reality. Now I was thinking about that. I said to myself...they didn't become reality, why is that? Was I just going through motions that I thought I needed to go through? Isn't that what my parents had done? It certainly took a tole on me. It certainly felt like I was trying, or was I afraid of trying, of failing, of succeeding? I can remember the stress of the deadline, I felt the blood roaring through my ears, I felt the sweat on my forehead and palms of my hands. My heart was racing with every tick of the clock. I often thought there should be a better way of handling this. Well, I think I could have been right about that. Listen to this story.

Consistently working 80+ hours a week can mess with priorities. Goals possibly played a part in these crazy hours...ya think?  Or was it an excuse to avoid issues in other areas of life?  Now the immediate reaction the mind tells the body is RUN...RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. Are you goal oriented to the point of craziness? Is your body talking back? Feeling sick, run down? Listen up!!

Are you so wrapped up in success that you forgot to have a life? Take that day off, take that class, read that book, go out to dinner, write, paint,compose,run, jump...well you get it.  Dedicate some of your life to what you LOVE. We all need some type of regular income. Think about this, are you doing what you love to do? If not, then start doing it on the side, a few hours a week or a month. Do it! Start Now!!

By stepping out of the goal oriented world I found my life interest was still there. Still waiting for me. Helping people is what I wanted to do from age 4 when I first opened that golden book with the title "Nurse Nancy". The minute I saw those stars and stripes bandages stuck to the inside cover and read the story of how Nancy helped people feel better, I knew that was what I wanted to do.

Next time, I'll tell you just how I think about "No one ever gets a second chance in life"