Shifting Sands Shift Goals

Sometimes we set goals and think we have everything all figured out only to have life shift under our feet like sand on the beach.

 Then we have to figure out what to do. We can give up. We can switch directions and look for better footing. We can re-evaluate the path we're on. We can keep digging our feet into the sand refusing to accept reality. I've done all of these at one time or another.

 This year was a year of shifting goals, and for the first time ever I felt like I moved with the changes without completely sinking into the sand. I felt like I kept my goals rooted on a steady foundation even when I faltered.

 I started the year with several goals. As the year progressed, I began to see how some of those goals needed major adjustments while others needed minor adjustments and still others needed to be packed away for the time being.

 As I face the end of the year, I can see clearly that my goals for the year are still in flux. I'm not going to meet a couple of goals at all. I'm not beating myself up for it because I made more progress on all these goals than I had made in several years. I made that progress by setting smaller goals and keeping at them while paying attention to the self-care I needed.

 An unexpected family medical situation caused me to need to adjust some goals and to accept that it's okay if I'm late with meeting some goals. Life happens. Life goes on.

 And, it's okay.

 I'm a big believer in re-evaluating one's progress as one goes and seeing where changes need made.

 I learned some things this year about what works for me and what doesn't. I also learned that I need to treat my own work with the same respect I want others to show it. If I don't, I don't accomplish as much. If I don't, others won't. That's just reality.

 At the same time, my work can't be everything to me. I need people. I need friends. I need family. I even need strangers. I need to connect. I need to love and feel loved. I need to take care of my health. I need to manage my finances.

 When I set goals to manage the myriad aspects of my life, I do a better job of staying on track and not letting things or people fall through the cracks. When I have a plan, I can adjust the plan. When I don't have a plan, there's nothing to adjust and everything just sinks beneath the shifting sands when life changes.
T. L. Cooper is an author and poet whose work aims to empower and inspire through an exploration of the human condition. Her poems, short stories, articles, and essays have appeared online, in books, and in magazines. Her published books include a collection of short stories, Soaring Betrayal, her Silhouette Poetry Series, and a novel, All She Ever Wanted. She grew up on a farm in Tollesboro, Kentucky. She currently lives in Albany, Oregon with her husband and three cats.

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