I’m not “religious” about setting resolutions. Not to say I haven’t done this in the past, I just don’t do it regularly and I certainly don’t follow through with them once I put them down on paper. I believe in 2015 I had all kinds of goals for running… and then I broke my ankle… so we all know where that lead!
Resolutions seem so big… so out of reach. I’ll lose 50 pounds (yeah, not happening). I’ll never be late to another meeting at work (yeah, someone tell the meeting before the meeting I’m running late to that). I’ll only drink wine on the weekend (hahahah… HAHAHAHAHAHAH… HAHAHAHAHAHAH). See, not very achievable.
A goal, however, is something I can plan out and put my mind to. Yeah yeah, I could treat a resolution like a goal but then it’s just one more thing I’m doing rather than “here’s my list of goals for work/home/life and I WILL get through these”.
While on a hike with Rocky a few weeks ago, we watched trail runner after trail runner whiz by us. Leaping over roots like gazelles, skidding down hills with a controlled fall that would impress even Bear Grillz (is he still relevant enough to drop into a blog post?), and barely wearing anything even though the temperature was close to freezing. That desire I had almost 4 years prior to move from the road to the trail when running started to creep back in.
Then it hit me – I turned to Rocky and said “I want to start trail running… and my first goal will be running up an incline without having to stop at the top… I want to push through the exhaustion… I want to go into my 40s healthier than I’ve been in ages”.
And so it was set.
My goal for 2019.
Run up a hill… don’t stop… don’t die… keep going.
Sure – there may be spills. I’ll probably skin my knee once… or twice… or more. I’ll have to overcome my newly formed irrational fear of walking/hiking/running downhill on a hiking path. All of these things are fine though. I’m not looking at an ultra marathon. Just looking at that hill. And counting down the days until I conquer it.
Thankfully I’m married to the best cheerleader I could possibly find. He high fives me when I make it down steep hiking paths, or when I scramble over slippery rocks to get a closer view of a water fall. I know any accomplishment will be celebrated along the way. That makes it much easier to get to those goals, don’t you think?
So… are you with me?
IdyllHands 