We have all seen those hilarious memes about expectations and reality. The first picture is a lovely object or person with good lighting. The second looks like a first thing in the morning selfie. Those memes make us chuckle because we have all experienced the true to life statement being made. We have lofty goals and ideals in our heads. Sometimes, though, the reality leaves much to be desired. I’ve experienced this in our Trail Family journey too.
I had visions that we would be out so much more that we are. The fact is, our life is much more than Trail Family and I have to accept that there is a balance to all things in life. When we have a weekend that goes by without any trail activities, it is counterproductive for me to wallow in feeling sorry for myself. I’ve struggled through the imposter syndrome and have decided to do what I can and be happy with the results as they are.
Goal setting has been a key factor in making time to enjoy the outdoor things that we love. Sometimes getting that outdoor time is an ideal trail ride or walk. Sometimes it’s an hour at the park up the street. Sometimes it’s our own little backyard. But I won’t feel crushed on those days when we play outside or work in our own garden like we somehow failed. We don’t do this mainly for the trail photo ops. We are sharing our journey as it unfolds.
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I also wanted to train for and run a 5K this year. Back in January I got out a little white board and some dry erase markers to plan out Trail Family events for the year. The 5K was going to be a big deal. My goal was to increase my reach and maybe even make something out of this little blog of mine. And then there was Covid. Between getting really discouraged and thinking a bit too late of ways to do this differently in strange times, I never brought the desire to fruition.
Most of us can say that our expectation versus reality for 2020 are two vastly different pictures. My heart goes out to those who were physically affected by Covid and lost loved ones. My heart goes out to everyone as well for the massive adaptations you have all had to make this year.
Don’t let the divergence between the expectation and reality keep you down. I used to be the type that never set any goals for fear that I would fail. Michael Jordan said, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” Not setting any goals does not equal success. Keep setting goals and striving to meet them even if that means failing some of the time. Hey, you might even get a viral meme out of the deal.
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