GOAL POST (2) – Step 1: Choose Yourself

• Currently working on: Goal 1 – Feel Better

First, a quick recap of last week:

1. My father is doing much better – thank goodness! He’s got all sorts of tests planned and meetings with a new doctor, which gives me and my mother some relief and hope.

2. I am doing slightly better. My blood pressure went up, albeit a little. I’ve been boosting my iron by paying extra attention to my food and snack consumption and that seems to work. I feel better than I did a week ago as well.

3. This pains me to say but… Waldo didn’t make it 😦 He was too weak to try more medication, which was likely to not have helped him anyway, and he was only getting worse. So last Friday, together with the vet, I decided to let him go.

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Step 1 – Choose Yourself

It’s funny how seemingly small things sometimes harbour the most important life lessons.

As I started my 2020 Goals, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could come up with a list of things to do or steps to take to get better. You know, much like climbing a ladder.

I would use my own path to figure the steps out and then share them with anyone who might need them, too. But as I decided this was a fun adventure (and a great way to find a positive note in my current low state) a problem arose: where to start?

If you want to climb a ladder, you have to be careful where to plant your feet as every step counts. As for trying to get better, it’s no use starting halfway. You need to start right at the bottom and work your way up, one step at a time. You need to be patient, sometimes maybe even lower yourself down a sport, but never skip a step.

That, I knew. Begin at the beginning.

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“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water”– Rabindranath Tagore

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But what is the first step to take then?

The seemingly small thing that happened last week was a simple text message I received. It was short. It was curt. It was rude. It was even a little disrespectful in my opinion, if not completely disdainful.

What happened then was new to me: nothing. I didn’t bite back. I didn’t up my defences. I didn’t even feel attacked! Nothing. The message might as well have never been sent, because I literally couldn’t care less about it.

That night, as I was in bed, falling asleep, I realised that in the past, a silly thing such as this message would have kept me up for nights on end. So what had changed? Had I suddenly stopped caring?

No. What changed is what I choose to care about. And somewhere in the past four months, I chose myself.

I want to get better. And for that, I need myself. My own full attention. My own devotion. Knowing I’ll have my own back.

Right before I dozed off and had the best night of sleep in months, I knew. The first step is always to choose yourself. Before you can climb that ladder, you have to know what you’re climbing it for. And if you’re not doing it for you, there’s no use in trying.

What steps are you taking to become a healthier, happier person? Let me know in the comments and let’s help each other get on the way 🙂