About Arrows and Sticks

I’ve been thinking alot about goals lately. Who hasn’t really? I’ve really enjoyed reading about other peoples resolutions and goals on their blogs the last few days.

The ones that stand out to me are the more specific goals. Not “Lose weight” – but rather “lose 10 lbs by Valentines Day.”  And not “Be a better person” – but rather “Speak kind and loving words every time my MIL calls.”

Something I did a few years ago was make a Have, Do, Be List. (It’s still taped to the door in our bedroom) On it I had three columns.

In the Have column I put down: a new fridge, a better car, new kitchen cupboards, desk for the girls room, etc. These are things we’d like to buy, if and when we have the finances for it. There is only one major thing I haven’t crossed off yet, and that’s the kitchen renovations. When I really think about it, it’s incredible that we could actually really cross off so many items on the list. My favorite was the fridge. One day, I was sick in bed and the phone rang. I was really sick, so I just checked the Caller ID and decided that since it was an unfamiliar number, I wouldn’t answer. Well, it rang again about 10 minutes later. Same number. So obviously someone really wanted to talk to me. It was the manager of our local Supermarket congratulating me on winning a new Whirlpool Refrigerator. Wow! I had totally forgotten that I had entered a drawing for that fridge. It was smaller than what I would have bought if we had saved up for a new fridge, but since we kept our old one (which wasn’t broken, just old and too small for our growing family), we decided to keep it and I crossed that off my list!

In the Do column are the projects I have mostly for the house and for myself. These projects included: Lose weight (more on that later) paint the girls/boys room, sew bedspreads, finish cross-stitch picture, and do a woodwork project. These things can be accomplished it I make time to get them done.

My Be / Become list gets a little more personal: Be a fun mom, a respectful wife, a better friend, an organized homemaker, become healthy and fit, become wiser, be more compassionate, be a pray-er. The things on this list are the hardest, because they require the most “inside” work. The things on this list are begging for the answer to this question: “And just how are you going to do this???”

This has become my most important list though, it’s ongoing and some things I’ll be working on for the rest of my life, but I think this is my most worthwhile list.

My Have list requires money. If I save enough, I can have these things.

My Do list requires time and elbow grease. I can do these things in the course of a year.

But my Be list requires that I take a look at my weakness, evaluate my goals and change my thinking. It requires humility and sacrifice. It requires prayer and self-discipline. And above all I know that I cannot do it on my own. I need to rely on God to be my strength. I need to seek Him to change my heart. And I need to know that He loves me just as I am, and He loves me too much to let me stay this way.

As I mentioned earlier,  on my DO list is “lose weight”. That has been a goal for many years.

I had my target, so to speak, but I was not using the arrows intended for this kind of target. I think I was merely throwing sticks or clods of dirt at it. So yeah, maybe once in a while I’d lose 5 lbs, but I was surprised when I did.  Like I would be if I’d hit the bulls-eye with a stick!

This time around I’m looking for arrows, true and straight. These arrows are designed to hit that target.

My goal – is to lose weight.

My target – for now is to lose 100 lbs.

My arrows – are the way I’m going to get to that goal.

è    Eat less! No snacking between meals. Making sure my portions are not “super-sized”.

è    Eat better! Healthy, nutritious meals and snacks. Low fat, low sugar are what I’m aiming for. Lots of fruits and vegetables. And I still want to make meals that my family will enjoy.

è    Reseach Nutrition! Look for recipies that are healthy. Really start looking at the calories in certain foods in order to decide whether it’s worth it or not.

è    Planning! Prepare a weekly menu, which includes meals and snacks. Shop accordingly.

è    Move more! Make sure I get a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio at least 3 times a week. Dare I say it… train for a 7k for March.

è    Strength train! Build muscle! Plan to do strength training at least 3 times a week.

è    Train my mind! Stop looking for excuses. Be confident and assured that I can do this. Be positive.

è    Journal my journey! Keep record of my struggles, temptations, trials AND victories!

è    Be accountable! Journal on my blog and let my readers in on my life. Allow them to be my cheerleaders on the way.

è    Encourage others! Be a positive influence on others, whether they are struggling with weight related issues or just need a friend to listen, encourage them.

è    Look to God! Focus on God, especially when I want to run to food for comfort. Nothing should take His place in my life. Nothing should be more important to me than my relationship with Him. Pray for strength. Read His Word for the comfort I need when I am down.

Well, my friends, it’s been good to write all of this down. I’ve been on this journey for 10 weeks now, I have been losing weight, but I felt like it was trial and error most days. With specific tools (or some pretty sharp arrows) in place and aiming for the target, I can’t fail, right?!

Aiming with arrows,

Casey

On another note: there are quite a few blogs that I cannot comment on. I have no idea what the problem is. Christine, from rediscoveringmein2009 is one of them, so if you’re reading this Christine, just know that I’d love to be commenting and encouraging you on your journey.