Time never stops

Tags

365, forward progress, motivation, moving forward, time

 

 

 

Time moves in a single direction.

Forward.

Yet we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to move backwards, against the flow of time. No matter how hard you try, you aren’t ever going to reset that clock. Time will always move forward, it will always win in a fight to go back. So you have two choices. Fight a losing battle, or learn to move forward.

Moving forward doesn’t mean you forget the past. It doesn’t mean you don’t try to fix things that happened which you may regret. It means you focus on working on those things in the present, with an eye on the future. You can apologize for the past. You then need to focus on correcting your behaviors now, and continuing to live with those positive corrections in the future.

Miss a workout? Don’t go back and try to fix that. Correct it today, and work to not miss tomorrow. Failed to do a homework assignment? Don’t go back. Fix it now, even if you don’t get credit, then move forward and learn.

Even if everything is falling apart around you, find one thing to do today that corrects a problem. Even if it’s something small like getting the dishes in the dishwasher. Focus on that correction, then keep building on it and move forward.

Life has no pause button. It has no rewind. Time will move on, even if you don’t want to. So go ahead and do something to move with the flow, rather than fight that losing battle.

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Mending

Tags

deep thinks, life, motivation, moving forward, threading needle

Hands shaking, foot tapping, tongue sticking out I slowly advanced towards my objective. Slow, slow, slow, the thread advanced towards the tiny opening. Almost there, almost there…and at the last minute the thread darted left. Yet again, I missed the eye of the needle.

There was some inventive muttering and a curse word I still won’t admit to. Mom just raised an eyebrow and told me to try again. This was the summer of sewing. Mom decided that my brother and I needed to learn basic sewing and mending skills, plus sewing machine 101. John took to the tasks quickly. With his exceptional hand eye coordination and endless patience, the manual tasks of sewing were easy for him. I on the other hand struggled. With no depth perception, and the patience of a juju bee, trying to master the art of hand stitching a straight line taxed my non existent patience. The threading the needle lesson resulted in quite a few tears and a very unhappy Clara.

Bless Mom for having some extra patience. She wasn’t pleased that I seemed incapable of sewing in a straight line, but she kept encouraging me to master the basics. “What if you need to put a button on a shirt?” she’d ask.

“Glue” was my inevitable reply.

I did eventually learn how to do a basic hem, stick a button on a shirt, and stitch two pieces of fabric together. All without the addition of glue or duct tape. It’s not always pretty, but it is functional and I can get by until I can get myself to a tailor of seamstress. Or send the offending article of clothing back home.

Like any skill, mending requires some effort and a good bit of practice to get good at it. Anyone can slap a button on and attach it with some ugly stitches. If you want the button to look like every other one on the shirt, that takes work. Basic function can be achieved quickly. Making it pretty takes time. That’s when you make a decision. Do you spend the time needed to master the skill at the pretty level? Or do you go for functional and move on to something else that has a higher priority for you?

I’ve been content to keep my mending skills at functional. This weekend I fixed a torn strap on a favorite baseball cap, then reattached part of a sleeve on a t-shirt. It was nothing fancy, just some basic work that keeps two items of clothing functional and neat until I can get around to replacing them. I chose basic function, and then delegate to others who enjoy the process of mending more than I do.

Delegating is something most of us struggle with. Rather than obtain functionality in a skill, we fixate on doing it perfectly often ignoring the steps required to reach mastery. When we can’t do something perfectly, too often the task is tossed by the wayside, ignored. Worse, we berate ourselves for failing to accomplish the task at mastery level.

You can’t master everything in your life. We all have strengths and weaknesses. The key is understanding that learning a functional level to a task moves you forward. Waiting to achieve mastery before attempting the task means you don’t move at all.

I mended a shirt and hat this weekend. They look fine, and will hold up to the tasks required of them. I moved forward this weekend. Did you?

Embracing the past to move to the future part 2

Tags

bfl, bflspirit.com, body for life, clara k.showalter, clara showalter, embrace the past, inspiration, mindset, motivation, moving forward

Second in the series of journal entries from my 2006 Body for Life Challenge. 

Presented as originally written

 

People talk about the key ingredient for a successful transformation. They talk about desire, motivation, planning, equipment, suppliments. There’s one thing I don’t see mentioned nearly often enough.

Faith.

Now I’m not talking about religious faith, though that’s something that I know many successful BFLers have. I’m talking about a deep, profound belief that this transformation is actually possible. A belief so deep, so true, that when things get dark, you KNOW that if you just hang on a second longer, you can make this happen.

BFlers have a great gift before us. We have living proof that amazing transformations can and do happen to ordinary people. People just like us. These people show us that by putting away our fears, by believing in the process 100% that you can make a 180 degree turn in your life.

You have living, breathing proof. Every single successful transformee stood where you are. They were upset by how they looked, and how they felt. They stood at the abyss. Then they did something truly scary. They stepped off the edge. They committed 110 percent to the process. When they made that step, they never looked back.

This is week three. I know that some of you out there still haven’t crossed the Abyss. In the back of your mind, you know this can’t actually work. Somewhere between now and week 12- you are going to find a way to prove yourself right. That big, black hole is scary, dark, the wind howls up at you. It’s trying to suck you in. Nobody is going to blame you for backing away from the edge. I mean come on. It’s scary, you can’t see what’s at the bottom, you can’t see how far it is. Back away. Afterall, you don’t want to fall.

That’s the easy choice.

Or

You can look at the black void in front of you. You can’t see the bottom. It’s dark, empty, the wind is blowing. Your hair stirrs in the breeze. Close your eyes. No, trust me. Close them. Feel the wind. Listen to the sounds. Do you hear that. That tiny breath of heaven, that small voice saying “can” You have to strain to hear it. Step closer. Listen to it. “can”. It’s just out of reach. Step closer. No, it’s okay- trust me. Take that step. Let the wind catch you, support you.

Step. Keep your eyes closed, don’t worry about falling. Step. Listen to a fallen champion, let her carry you forward. Step.

Listen to the voices telling you- CAN

Trust me. This journey never ends. You won’t fall. Believe. When all else fails you- Believe that you can keep taking that next small step.

Crossing the Abyss is all about faith. Those of us who’ve crossed are there to keep you from falling.

Trust us, believe.

Close your eyes…

STEP

This marked the point where my attitude started to shift. It wasn’t so much about me. It was about looking at ways to reach out for others who needed help. That was a huge part of the formula that would help keep me on the path to success for the next 5 years. –ed