Day Two - Dreams, Goals, and Baby Steps!

After establishing a plan (See yesterdays post) and choosing to embark on a journey it is important to understand that:

The truth is that, “Every expedition starts with a step”!

We were created to dream. In fact God created us with precision and knows exactly who He created us to be. Many of us are searching for self-worth…we are on a quest for significance. Often what limits us from getting the dream job, or from experiencing fulfillment in life is that we fall short of accomplishing our life goals.

Would furthering your education cause you to move closer to becoming the person God created you to be?

Would receiving a promotion at work cause you to move closer to becoming the person God created you to be?

What would allow you to inch forward in your quest for significance?

I believe the reason many of us fall short of living a life of significance is we fail to set smaller goals that propel us towards accomplishing the ultimate goal.

Take weight loss and fitness goals for example. People ask me all the time what it was like when I first started working out. Looking back on it now, I wish I had recorded that first day back in February 2007…I went outside and attempted to run a 1/4 mile…before I could even make it 100 meters I had to stop. I am going to spare you all the details but lets just say it wasn’t pretty!

I wish on that day I could have seen the Ben that would run his first 5k in September of that year!

I wish on that day I could have seen the Ben that would run two half marathon in December of 2007 and

January 2008.

I wish I could have seen the Ben that would run a half marathon on January 6th in 1:37 minutes and a Full 26.2 mile marathon on January 7th, of 2010 in 3:35.

I wish I could have seen the Ben that would attempt and complete a 40+ mile training run in the year 2010.

I am not trying to stroke my own ego here…I am trying to encourage ANYONE who will listen. YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH anything you put your mind to. But where does it start?

For me in the area of running it started back on that cool February day when I had to make a decision. Do I stop, because lets face it…321 pounders don’t run, and ME I DON’T ENJOY running, I don’t even UNDERSTAND people who run!

That day I had to make a choice and it went something like this. “You can’t run this whole track, but you can run to that bench…” and so the journey began. The next day… guess what, I made it past the bench and to the corner and the next around that corner. I continued until I could run the entire track, and that was just the beginning.

Life is a lot like running…

Maybe you once had a dream, and you were on your way but then you stopped before you arrived at your desired destination. What small goal could you set today that would cause you to be closer to reliving and

realizing that dream tomorrow?

What would you see if you could see the who you had become after you made THE CHOICE?

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalms 37:4

Picture on the left is the day my 1st daughter Kaylee was born
and on the right me five months after the running incident!