Wow – it is July 1st. We are halfway through the year and it seems to be flying by. The halfway point is a good time to step back and see how we are doing on our goals for the year. Are we on track or have we slipped a little? If we have stumbled a bit, no problem! Plenty of time to refocus and get back on our planned path. Summer is a time for stormy weather as hot air clashes with cooler air moving in different directions. How does a healthy lifestyle weather a storm?
A commitment to a healthy lifestyle requires identifying what we see as healthy living. Then, it requires a long-term plan for achieving and maintaining that vision. Along the way we will pass through many twists and turns, much like shifting weather patterns. I love watching summer storms move through. First, the wind begins to pick up. Then, a few scattered fluffy clouds begin to gather. Gradually more clouds move in and the white, fluffy clouds turn into dark, foreboding clouds. Then, the rain begins, thunder roars and lightening flashes. Finally, the storm fades away and leaves behind a beautiful blue sky and shining sun.
When we first establish the goal posts along the path to our healthy lifestyle we are excited. As we reach each goal the momentum generated by our success propels us on to the next one. Once we reach our final goal we tend to breathe a big sigh of relief and think we have arrived. But actually, maintenance of our healthy lifestyle can be more challenging than getting there in the first place. This is where the winds and the clouds may begin to gather.
As we are moving through our goals we are identifying obstacles along the way and pushing past them. Once we reach the final goal we may become less focused on identifying those obstacles. Schedules get crowded, children’s activities change, we may move and not have access to the same activities we were doing before. At first we may ignore the warning signs that our healthy lifestyle is rocking off track. If we miss the initial winds that are rocking our path we may find ourselves in a full-fledged storm. At this point we need to go back to our original plan and find out which pieces of our healthy lifestyle have been neglected and put them back in place. Once we re-implement the missing pieces the storm can pass and we will find ourselves back under the bright, blue sky of our healthy lifestyle. Building a maintenance plan into your vision of a healthy lifestyle is a key to weathering the storms that will gather as you live the life of your dreams.
How do you respond to the storms in your life that rock your healthy lifestyle? Would love to hear from you in the comments below.
