Looking Ahead

Categories: Blog Jan 31, 2016

 

A friend of mine recently shared some of her frustrations with me. Just to be clear, her frustrations where not due to me, she was letting me know about things in her life. She told me whenever she seems to be making progress, she hits a setback. "I move one step forwards, and then two steps back."

As she was telling me this, it suddenly dawned on me - even if you are moving two steps back, you are still looking ahead.

Life has hiccups, bumps, bruises, derailments, detours, roadblocks, obstacles and battles. There are gnats that distract us and then there are vultures that try to snatch us away. Sometimes things happen to trip us up, and we may hardly even notice it. We shrug them away and keep going. Other times, we may get kicked right in the crotch or hit square in the teeth - not only are we aware of the the assault, we are having to pick ourselves back up and get our bearings.

If you can always say, "I feel like I am taking two steps back every time I take one step forward." , or "I keep having to get back up because I keep getting knocked down." You will win.

Whatever your destination, whatever your heart's desire, if you keep looking ahead, if you keep stepping forward after you are pushed back, if you keep rising to stand after you are knocked down, you will win.

You should also know that if you are getting assaulted by life's hiccups, it probably means you are going in the right direction. It also probably means you are living a life worth living. It is pretty easy to flush a dead goldfish down the toilet. It can be a challenge to flush a live goldfish down the toilet, especially if he doesn't want to go that way.

Whatever situation you find yourself in, keep looking ahead. Keep your eyes on the horizon. Not just your physical eyes, but your mind's eyes too. If you set your sights on where you want to go and what you want to achieve, you will succeed.

This is a mental reset. Today might be a rough day. You may have missed the bar you set for yourself. Someone else may have beat you with the bar you were reaching for. Keep your eyes on the prize. Tomorrow is a new day. That is good news. But you know what? Now is a new moment. That is better news. Two seconds ago, you may have taken two steps back. But that was then. NOW, take one step forward. Now, pick your head up, set your eyes where you want to go, and resolve that roadblocks are just distractions, and nothing more.

Does this have anything to do with your health? Absolutely. This deals with your mental health and even your physical health. The health of your mind is determined by the focus of your mind's eye. It's determined by your ability to look ahead. Your health of your body is determined by the health of your mind. Your body will feed off the strength in your mind, or it will starve from the defeat in your mind.

It is okay if you get pushed back. It is okay if you get knocked down. All that matters is that you hold your head up, look ahead, and you move forward.

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