I woke up this morning & looked up at the ceiling. Should I get up & work out or should I just lay here enjoying the warmth of the bed? The sheets and the sound of my husband’s rhythmic breathing almost lulled me back to sleep. ‘Snap out of it!’, I told myself as I felt the chilly air on my nose. My inner voice gently pulled back the sheets. Within a few moments, I was standing in front of the TV, shoes on, remote in hand looking for my favorite exercise at home channel on YouTube.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this struggle on a daily basis. We start the year with expectations, goals and intention. We have a strategy that we think we can adhere to. We’ve made promises to ourselves that this time will be different. But, somewhere around day 14 of the New Year, the reality of what we proclaimed starts to settle in. Alas, the warmth of the bed seemingly wins more than we care to admit.
I began to wonder how do we get past this? What is the ‘magic’ pill that will help push people forward daily? My morning mediation after my workout provided me with a simple answer…Hope.
Hope evokes a feeling of possibility. Science indicates that hope is the will to get you where you want using a variety of means to get there. According to biblical principles, hope is the catalyst to help you get the things you can’t yet see.
Can you lie in bed dreaming of what it looks like to workout & be healthy? Absolutely! But you must couple the thought of hope with action. You can act without hope, but hope without action will keep you exactly where you are. Hope engages all of your five senses. The moment you decide to act, hope is the accelerant to get you to where you want to go.
You can hope all day long that your candidate will get into office, but what are you really doing to help the process? You can hope that your partner will change, but what actionable steps are you taking to improve yourself first? Are you dreaming about reducing your overall debt & spending? Have you developed a pragmatic budget that you’re committed to? Sought out credit repair or a financial advisor? Are you hoping to one day get that business plan written? But have you found a mentor or coach to help keep you accountable? Hope + Action= Completion.
What practical action are you taking to activate your hope? Share your comments.