The New Plan

There are few things I like better than a plan. I don't always have to be the one to initiate it or design it, but I like to be a part of one. Sometimes it may be a bad plan, but at least it was a plan. Today has brought a new plan to my life.

This morning started like most. My mind was full of things I needed to do or fix or change or learn or finish or start or clean or ... whatever. There were so many things crowding my little brain that it was overwhelming. I wanted to get out for a wog, but instead was incapacitated trying to figure out what to do and when. So I just sat on the couch.

I sat thinking, and God posed a question in my head. He asked me, "If you could only do one thing to make yourself happy, what would that be? If you could take a year doing this, what would you choose?"

I thought and responded, "I would really like to get this food/diet thing and training thing under control."

And God said, "Then do it. Take six months, really concentrate on it, and do it."

Immediately an angry voice popped into my head and said, "Well that must be nice. You have such a cushy life that you have time to sit around and worry about what you eat and exercise. You don't have to worry about working a job to feed the kids. Aren't you just something?!"

I turned to God who shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's not Me talking. That's somebody you've let get inside your head. That opinion doesn't mean anything, if you're really only listening to Me." And so I did.

So, my new plan is to really focus on eating healthy, which means good food and portion control. I also want to really work on training so that I might actually improve my time. But supposedly those have been my goals, so what's the difference?

The difference is that these are now first and foremost, instead of peripheral. Instead of trying to work these goals into my day, I hope to work the day around these goals.

So what do I hope to accomplish in six months? My goal is not to wake up tomorrow and be thin, healthy, and able to run 26.2 in 3 hours. My goal is to change my life, and that will take time. If in six months I've only lost a pound and only cut two minutes off my total time but I have worked hard, then I will have succeeded. I will have changed the way I live my life through hard work and determination.

I don't know exactly what this looks like in detail or exactly how it will unfold. But I've got the my thesis statement, plenty of support, and a goal in mind. Sounds like a plan to me.