As the year comes to a finale, we start thinking about the upcoming year, the exciting possibilities and then we begin to set goals for ourselves. Not to say setting goals for oneself is bad, anything but, however, we do place a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves to live up to the best version of ourselves that we have set out to be.
Again, it’s not to say setting goals to be the best version of ourselves is not valuable or essential, because it is. How do we achieve it? What are the rules to this game we play with ourselves? I suppose, you are the judge of your own goals so it is up to us individually to decide what those rules are and what the time frame is before we toss in the towel and say “Maybe, next year”.
I don’t look at what I should do or who I should become. I look backwards. Backwards you say? That seems rather silly. Perhaps, perhaps not.
Think about who you are today, and rewind one year ago. Are you a different person? My guess is that you are. Many different scenarios have been played out before you, some were fun, daunting, horrific, heartbreaking and ultimately, life altering. Every little action, every little decision made has led you to where you are and to who you are today. So, are you different? Did you change the way you whistled, even slightly? Did you zig when you historically would have zagged? If yes, congratulations. You are a different person. I am betting, for the better.
How do I know? I do not, of course. With that being said, most decisions come with a result and the aftereffect of that is knowledge. Whether it was the development you were hoping and striving for or if it was lackluster and less than impressive, you became instantly educated because of it.
How many happy accidents have happened in your life? How many happy moments turned to accidents? Both of these scenarios are extreme. One end of the proverbial spectrum to the other. If one or both of these situations arose somewhere along the path in 2017, I am willing bet a three dollar and fifty cent bill that you came out enlightened (or wary depending on the situation) on the other side.
If you could go back in time would you change anything? Would you be leery to do so? What would the new reality be after you fix that one mistake? Would you be where you are now? would you lose out or gain? Hard questions to ask, especially when there is no real answer. Right?
There is an answer. Today is the answer. Think about who you are right now, look in the mirror and appreciate what stares right back at you. If you like what you see, I bet in one year, there will be an even more astute person standing in the mirror. If you are unhappy with what you see, take a deeper look back. Who were you before? You are more experienced now than ever before, so don’t take that away from yourself.
As of right now, whether you are the best version of yourself or the worst, you are right. Today is a day, tomorrow is what will come and yesterday is the archives. Great thing about archives, you can always go back and remind yourself of the past in order to grow and make a prosperous future.
“Take me away, I don’t mind, but you better promise me I’ll be back in time…”
You simply can’t have the News without Huey Lewis.
