Some Goals Are In The Mind

The strangest thing happened this afternoon. I was forced to write with a pencil on a piece of paper. The irony here is that my monitor decided to take a nap, just as I was ready to write a post for the goal-writing project Ben Yoskovitz is having at Instigator Blog, Set Your Post Thanksgiving Goals Now

In light of that, my goals are slightly altered. Well, not really altered, but re-numbered. It looks like one of the first goals I need to realize and appreciate is resourcefulness and resilience.

Don’t think I was a calm, cool cucumber before I found the pencil and paper. No, no, no. At first there was a flare of panic (the sky is falling!!!) while I made a few frantic calls. There was even a walk across the street to see if the Goodwill Store had a monitor in stock. They didn’t.

The pencil had to sharpened to a nub before my monitor came back to life. (I now have my Mom’s old one safe and sound in my living room ready for backup duty, if necessary.)

But, back to resourcefulness and resilience. This morning, I wouldn’t have considered either things to nurture as goals of the mind. That’s because everything worked as it should; I didn’t need to go looking for ways to fill the pond for my ducks. Now, after necessity threw this thought at me, it deserves a second look.

The plans we make to get to our goals, even the goals themselves, aren’t carved in stone. We set our minds to an end and cut the path to that end and, suddenly, between Steps Two and Three, up crops Step Two-A. Now what? Well, if we can’t re resilliant enough to draw on what should be a wealth of resource, we’re going to have a hard time of it. No matter how we feel about the new situation, Step Two-A is here and isn’t going away by itself. And, for all we know, Step Two-A might be just what we need to reach that goal a little sooner, a little better, a little wiser.

We can’t be so totally reliant on what we have today that we can’t change gears if we don’t have it tomorrow. If the car breaks down, we need to remember that we can walk.

Oh, if you’re interested in my goals and plans post, head over to Thoughts & Philosophies.