“because mommy needs a goal”
Posted by amy at September 30th, 2007
I’m not sure why I’m so surprised by the following realization, but the fact that I continue to find out new things about myself makes me incredibly happy and makes me optimistic about entering my forties and fifties.
Growing up under the shadow of the baby boomers, I was under the impression that I would peak in my early 20s and everything after that would be a slow decline - in health and in happiness - until death. My study of student protest leaders in the 1960s magnified this impression - looking at how they aged (or didn’t in some cases) wasn’t all that pleasant.
I struggled through my teens and twenties with figuring out who I was, and in the back of my mind was always the refrain that I never wanted to be “one of those people” (who woke up early to fly model airplanes, or who packed the same lunch every day or who never moved from their hometown for example.) I started to let those ideas go as I began to become more comfortable with who I actually was instead of defining myself by what I wasn’t.
And now, now I’m beginning to expand my idea of what I’m capable of. I never knew I could be the kind of woman who … run 5 miles, can do a high ropes course, likes beets! My husband reinforced this for me last week, when explaining to our son Alex why I had to go to Boston to run this race. “Because mommy needs a goal, something she can mark on a calendar and work towards and feel good about herself for reaching.” [slap hand to forehead, yell Wow, you’re right] How could I not have recognized this about myself before?
Just imagine what other cool things I can learn about myself as I set new goals and explore new possibilities.
My next goal? I’m going to start doing some hill training so I can the snowshoeing 5k this winter, and I’d like to get back to my yoga practice? Maybe 50 sessions in 60 days? Sounds doable to me.
What about you, did you ever imagine you could be the kind of person who ….?
Hmmmm…Amy, I am known as Dr.Jack Dennum by some folk. (a play on words) So that qualifies me to blog the following:
You seem to feel that in order to fulfill yourself, you need to be an achiever. You seem to feel that if you don’t have a goal to conquer each day than the day isn’t worth anything and is wasted time. That is so very far from the truth. You also seem to be preoccupied with getting older and dreading the day when you can no longer set goals, (psychical and mental) and realistically achieve them. With men we call this “The Mid-Life Crisis”. With women we call this “Panic”!
Here is the problem….by chasing the future we miss the here and now! By judging life by how many goals we have achieved, we miss the essence of living life for the sake of life it’s self. Running by the rose bush and not stopping to smell the roses because you have a superficial goal to acheve,….is not how life was meant to be lived! Look around you….You may find that you already have achieved everything that is worth achieving.
Dr.Jack Dennum, office hours M-F 12Am to 2Am
Southview
Jeezum Southview,
You couldn’t be less astute. For one thing, if Amy were caught up in this mental rat-race which you describe, she wouldn’t be living in the Northern Berkshires.
DWPittelli
DW…..Splain please?
Southview