My Goal to Reach My Goals

Life goes by fast and the daily flow of events can threaten to overwhelm us and, worse, make us forget our goals.  One of the reasons I write every morning and every night is to remind myself of what I want in life.  And I tell myself over and over again.  I want a house on the beach.  That goal represents several goals, some financial, some spiritual, some professional, and some personal.  I believe writing is the key to getting the things I want and so, even though I’m tired, I keep working.  

This is what we need to do to reach our goals.  We work through fatigue, busyness, and most of all, we work through all the tricks the Enemy tries to play on us in our heads.  For myself, I work through fear, guilt, the feeling of ineffectiveness, all the same old stuff.  And I keep working because, ultimately, fear is based on what I believe other people may think.  But here’s the thing:  when I’m in my Purpose, I don’t care what other people think.  It’s not that I want to be insensitive or be unwilling to learn new and better ways of doing things, but if I keep writing, mistakes and all, I’ll get to where I need to be.  Worrying what others think about my work keeps me second guessing and satisfying no one, especially not myself.  

So I Keep Going.  At this moment, I am feeling the adrenaline of gratitude.  I’ve been practicing gratitude a lot lately.  I’ve said thank you for the oddest things – for a cloud in the sky, for the ability to read, for specific words, like “street” or “canyon” or “palm.”    I’ve said thank you for colors, for my ability to walk, and for the two pennies I found on the street.  As I practice this discipline, some interesting things happen.  First, my mind tends to connect more good things with the thing I’m thankful for. 

For example tonight I said thank you for the word “street” that I saw on a highway sign.  As soon as I said thank you for that word, I remembered two brothers I knew in high school, who had the last name, “Street.”  I remembered how much fun we had in Mr. Charles’ business class together and how much they made me laugh.  I hadn’t thought of or seen these guys for years, but some simple words of gratitude brought me back to some very nice times.

With my mind feeling lighter, I felt happy and enthusiastic.  I’ve been practicing this all week.  I’ve noticed that my thought life hasn’t felt as cluttered or as negative as it often does.   (But I still fight handling frustration well when passwords don’t work or I fight technology issues.)  So I’ve been practicing gratitude all week.

Then something interesting happened.

I got tired of being grateful.

What was that about? 

Why would I get tired of being grateful and happy?  

Although I don’t know if any of these questions are original, I wondered about the following:

·      Is there a limit to how much happiness we can handle?

·      Are we afraid of happiness?

·      Is happiness like a super-power that we have to learn how to wield correctly?

·      If I’m happy most of the time, will this set me apart from others?  Will I be alone in my happiness?  Will I be alone?

After considering these questions, I realized that happiness and gratitude are disciplines.  I decided to keep practicing gratitude and see where it takes me.   In The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale said, “(I)t is using all your courage to force yourself to think positively on your own problem.”

I never understood why it takes courage to think positively.  Now I do.  To be positive, to truly be positive and not just act so, takes courage because it is a new way of thinking for many of  us.  A friend said to me, “We have been given negative impact all our lives through complaining, criticism, and gossip.  We get it from our parents and the schools and from society.”

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield says, “The highest treason a crab can commit is to make a leap for the rim of the bucket.”

Am I committing treason by really wanting to be happy?

Here’s another question:  What if happiness isn’t the end, but the beginning of something new, something better, a life in which I can use to bless the world.  Is that why there is such a great struggle against Purpose?  Is there some spiritual force that wants us all to be miserable so that nothing worthwhile gets done in this world?  

I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I’m going to continue being grateful, continue writing, and continue reading.  I’m going to Get Started and Keep Going every single day of my life.  This is my goal that will help me reach my goals.