The Six Month Non-Plan

I'm not good at setting goals. Try as I might to be one of those people with everything from a six-month action plan, to one that spans years, I tend to shy away from those looming, self-imposed deadlines. Yet I still keep trying.

This past year or so has been brutal for me. I won't go into too many details, but suffice it to say that there were far too many hospital visits, followed by far too many funerals and what felt like endless grieving. And of course, the ongoing pursuit of comfort food in mass quantities. So I wouldn't say that I'm in the best shape of my life right now (unless squishy counts as an ideal shape, in which case I'm doing great!).

A friend told me about a book she read which offered a different point of view on getting in shape. Instead of measuring one's already full life in lbs. and ounces, it encouraged people to instead amp up their exercise and slowly move toward healthy eating and food accountability. Here's the part that was most interesting to me, the goal is not to have an immediate goal, but to instead do a full check in only after about 6 months have passed. This way you're not measuring every lost pound and fretting about what the scale says (or doesn't), but you're allowing yourself to pursue a new health and life ideal and ease into it before expecting results.

Sometimes life throws you so many curveballs simultaneously and it's all you can do to hang on and keep going. We all have slip ups. Sometimes it's okay to be a bit more gentle with yourself and allow yourself a very long term goal instead of the immediate result.

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