The Gray Area
Life isn’t always black and white…. Until it is. I’ve always envisioned life as having a gray area. It’s never “I’ve won” or “I’ve lost” but more of “I tried my best.” Granted, that’s not always the case. There are moments when I’ve absolutely felt like a failure, even when I’ve tried my best. Other days, I’m on top of the world celebrating the fact that I made it out of bed. That’s my infamous gray area.
However, for 2024, I’m trying to see things as they are: black or white. It doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon the gray area, but rather see reality. Because 2024 is a year of setting goals for me, I’m trying my best to be as objective as possible. When we set goals, we set expectations for ourselves and usually on a timeline. I’m trying to change how I speak to and about myself, and in doing so, im limiting my expectations.
For instance, I wanted more followers on my blog. That was one of my goals for January. I wrote down that I wanted 20 followers, and in order to get that, I would post once a week to the blog. January 31st rolled around and I didn’t hit 20 followers, but I did post 4 times like I wanted to. Usually, I would have felt like a failure for not achieving the goal. This time, I celebrated the win instead.
Here’s how I’m setting my goals in 2024:
Part A: what I want to achieve/ accomplish (20 followers)
Part B: what I’ll do to achieve it (post once a week)
Part C: writing it down (“Write the vision and make it plain - Habakkuk 2:2” and managing my expectations (accepting that maybe it won’t happen- if it does, great, and if it doesn’t, okay). Changing the narrative. (the invisible part)
I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up on February 1, checked my blog stats, and realised I made it to 20 followers. It warmed my heart.
These goals may not be ideal for everyone, but life happens one day at a time. We’ve gotten so used to taking huge steps, that we forget about the little steps in the direction that matters. I’ve framed myself into thinking I need to have the house, car, and land by 22, not realising that I should be striving for health, knowledge, passion, and grace. Everything else will eventually fall into place, if I work at it, (little by little) one thing at a time. My most favourite bible verse of all times is, “Seek ye first the king of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you- Matthew 6:33.” I really need to get back into believing that.
❤️
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