Goal Setting Setbacks

As the new year started I had a pretty well defined set of goals this year. I had dates written down and a pretty concise path laid out in front of me. Personal goals, work goals, spiritual goals… they were all there. Then this week something happened that was totally unexpected. I didn’t see it coming. I got sick.

For the last three days I’ve had a stomach bug that left me so sick that I didn’t even want to see a computer… much less sit in front of one. I don’t get sick that often and it’s been years since I’ve had this type of illness, so when it happened Monday night I was really surprised.

What I realized after three days of worrying and fretting about things not getting done… is there was nothing I could do about it. I’ve come away with some thoughts that really hit home this week, as things had to be canceled or postponed.

1. I’m really thankful for my wife who rescheduled appointments and made phone calls for me. She has been wonderful and I’m very lucky to have someone to help when things are upside down. And the Chicken soup was wonderful!

2. I’m thankful for our secretary at work who delegated some of my tasks and rescheduled others. She let me know that everything was under control. It’s that positive reassurance that really helps.

3. I’m thankful for Doctor Combs who was able to see me the same day and offer some medicine that really helped. It’s nice to know a doctor that really cares about his patients.

4. I’m thankful to God, whose daily scriptures really spoke to me this week. As I was forced to slow down in the last few days, His words really helped me put things into perspective and see some of the really important things in life.

Now that I’m feeling better, I realize my goals are still there… but changed somewhat. In the future I’m going to set a somewhat slower pace and bring others in to help. And it’s not the end of the world if one or two of them drop off the radar.

I guess the biggest thing I learned about goals this week… is that they need to be realistic and they need to be flexible. I also had a couple of unexpected benefits from being sick that were actually part of my goal list… hey… I lost four pounds and I completely got off caffeine. How about that!