Yesterday was my last day of work. It still seems unreal. Like in two days, I will be getting up in the morning, putting on my work clothes and driving in to see patients. Today just seemed like a day off.
When I think of this upcoming hike, it still seems like it is in the distant future, a far off dream that I will get around to someday. Except that someday is 5 days away.
I once read that "A goal is a dream with a deadline." I'm not sure who said that. Probably Oprah.* And this year, that is exactly what happened. It picked a date and turned a dream into a goal. It still seems weird.
I was going through a bunch of papers today: one of those piles of things that seem so important to keep until faced with a limited amount of storage space. I came across a folder labeled "someday". I remember putting this folder together, many years ago. It was filled with pages from magazines; things that I wanted to do, places where I wanted to go, challenges that I wanted to complete.
As I went through the clippings, I was amazed at the number of things that I have completed. It was kind of nice to cull the pile of each goal that no longer belonged in a "someday" folder. See the Grand Canyon. Check. Ride in a hot air balloon. Check. Visit Venice. Check. Run a marathon. Check. Hike the Appalachian Trail. Check.
And then, it all seemed a little less weird to me. We all have our dream folders, our diaries and journals, our bucket lists. We all have that place where we guard our secret desires and lifelong dreams. We all have days like today when we look back over our lists and measure our progress on the items, be they 1) get married 2) buy a house 3) have a baby; 1) complete my PhD 2) secure a university position 3) cure cancer; or 1) travel the world 2) write a novel 3) get a picture published in National Geographic. We are all in it together, plugging away at those items on our lists, carving out our own little place in the world. It's nice that all our dreams are a little different. It's nice that everyone's little niche brings something unique to the party.
Yesterday was my last day at work. Today was one step closer to turning the dream to goal. Check.
When I think of this upcoming hike, it still seems like it is in the distant future, a far off dream that I will get around to someday. Except that someday is 5 days away.
I once read that "A goal is a dream with a deadline." I'm not sure who said that. Probably Oprah.* And this year, that is exactly what happened. It picked a date and turned a dream into a goal. It still seems weird.
I was going through a bunch of papers today: one of those piles of things that seem so important to keep until faced with a limited amount of storage space. I came across a folder labeled "someday". I remember putting this folder together, many years ago. It was filled with pages from magazines; things that I wanted to do, places where I wanted to go, challenges that I wanted to complete.
As I went through the clippings, I was amazed at the number of things that I have completed. It was kind of nice to cull the pile of each goal that no longer belonged in a "someday" folder. See the Grand Canyon. Check. Ride in a hot air balloon. Check. Visit Venice. Check. Run a marathon. Check. Hike the Appalachian Trail. Check.
And then, it all seemed a little less weird to me. We all have our dream folders, our diaries and journals, our bucket lists. We all have that place where we guard our secret desires and lifelong dreams. We all have days like today when we look back over our lists and measure our progress on the items, be they 1) get married 2) buy a house 3) have a baby; 1) complete my PhD 2) secure a university position 3) cure cancer; or 1) travel the world 2) write a novel 3) get a picture published in National Geographic. We are all in it together, plugging away at those items on our lists, carving out our own little place in the world. It's nice that all our dreams are a little different. It's nice that everyone's little niche brings something unique to the party.
Yesterday was my last day at work. Today was one step closer to turning the dream to goal. Check.
Oprah did not say this. Napolean Hill did. B
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