Today I’m celebrating. I hit a milestone where just a few weeks ago, had no idea on how it would be accomplished. For 30 minutes, I ran (jogged – let’s be honest) without stopping. And this dream of becoming a runner has been a long time coming.
Over a decade ago – as I flipped through magazines creating my first vision board – a picture of a person running a race grabbed my attention. I tore it out and thought – ‘I’d like to run a race!’ and I glued it onto my board among the other images of hopes and dreams.
(Below are 3 separate vision boards from 2009, 2016, and 2020.)
Wanting to accomplish my goal, I took a stab at running here and there over time, but never seemed to be able to stick with my ‘trying’. The ambition would fizzle – and it felt hard. There was a point where I even told myself ‘I guess I’m not the runner I’d hoped to be’. Yet I kept putting a picture of a runner on my new vision board every year and didn’t let the dream die. Fast forward to 2020. Thanks to the pandemic and having very different mornings as a parent – I was finally able to carve out the time to resurrect the dream and stay consistent with my training. It’s a reminder to me that we don’t ever have to get caught up in the HOW our dream will manifest. We get to leave all of that up to the Universe. And now that I’ve hit the 30 minute milestone – I am next aiming for a 5km charity run in the spring!
Around the same time I started doing vision boards years ago, I read an article called ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying’. It was written by Bronnie Ware who worked for many years as a palliative care nurse. I discovered that the #1 regret is: ‘I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me’.
Learning about the authour’s findings had a big impact on me. I felt sad for those who lived a life and never listened to their inner voice or got out of their comfort zone. I realized that I did not want to be that person. I wanted to leave a legacy.
What about you – are you getting out there and living true to yourself, or are you putting the needs of others first? Are you settling? Is waiting a little longer before reaching for those dreams serving you or anyone? Sometimes it’s hard to face the tough questions but they’re important.
If you’d like to chat more about the topic of change and living a life true to yourself – book your free clarity call with me. I’d love to hear where you’re at!