Monday Inspiration: Big Goals

My crabbiness from earlier has abated and I do have some inspiration today after all, it's just coming a little late. The inspiration turned out to be for me by way of a quote from Nelson Mandela that really hit home.

This morning I wrote down seven goals I had for this week. I want to get healthy, as in over my cold. I want to go the gym twice without waiting for R. I want to sell three pieces of my work. I want to clean the work room. I want to sleep better. I want to make Peposo. (A peppery pork stew recipe I found in Martha Stewart magazine for this month.) And I want to make three really good pieces for work.

Everyone has goals. Some of them are smaller goals that we set for ourselves to accomplish throughout the day or the week. Others are long term, and some are things we just dream about but aren't sure we can ever accomplish.

Some people are real go getters who know how to make their dreams happen. But for most of us, we have no idea how to accomplish some of our bigger goals. So how are we different than the go getters?

I rather suspect that in many cases it comes down to fear. Fear of success, fear of failure, or fear of being greedy. I have never been terribly good at asking for things.

When I say my prayers before bed, I ask God for things for my family and friends but I rarely want to bother Him with my own little wants. It always makes me feel greedy to ask. I know it says "Ask and ye shall receive" but I have a hard time with it. I am not good at asking other people for things either.

I ask R for things like changing a light bulb I can't reach or taking out the trash and end up having to nag him to get him to do it. It always makes me feel bad. I guess in a way that's more on him for not doing it in a timely fashion and I have to nag him in order to get it done. But I still feel bad about it.

Usually I end up accomplishing a goal I set on my own merits. But this past week I am learning that you can't do everything yourself. Sometimes it takes others to help you get to that place.

Maybe if I learned to ask for more help, I could set bigger goals and achieve them. Is it wrong to ask for a little help once in a while? Am I greedy and selfish for wanting big things and expecting help to get there? And yet I have absolutely no problem offering to help other people as much as I can. Maybe it's ok to ask for help?

This is the question I have been struggling with all week. But today I ran across what Nelson Mandela said and suddenly I had my answer in a most unexpected way. That's usually how we get answers to tough questions...in a most unexpected way.

He said; "Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you to not be great."

If Nelson Mandela isn't an inspiration for setting goals and getting them accomplished, I don't know who is.