Place your Magnet

As a runner, I often use the idea of placing magnets along a race or a run.  I find a runner that is ahead of me or a mail box or a light post, and I place a mental magnet on that person or item.  I imagine that there is a magnetic force pulling me towards my item of choice.  This pulls me along in my runs, and it makes me push harder. When I reach that item, I pick up magnet and find a new a new target.

Placing magnets along my course is so much bigger than running. My 40 day goal challenge and my life vision are my way of placing magnets along my life course. Right now I have three very large magnets place on 3 mile markers in my life: the Rock n Roll finish line, Maute Moo’s arrival date, and a full marathon in 2012. I admit that I can get caught up in my goals.  It’s good to take a step back and refocus. My training plan can’t become more important than my birthing plan.  I can’t allow planning for both of these items to suffocate my desire to be an active encouraging wife and mother.  A happy healthy household is much more important than completing a race.  It’s good to assess whether we are getting pulled in the right direction.

Life is full of magnets.  I think it is safe to say that most of them aren’t positive.  Watch TV for 5 minutes. Majority of what you see won’t have a positive affect on your life.  We can get caught up in drama, marketing campaigns, and unrealistic celebrity lifestyles. I don’t deny the entertainment value in it all, but it becomes a problem when we allow it to be a driving force in our life.

Today Cole and I made our weekly trip to the grocery store.  Everything in the grocery store is set up for bad decisions. An entire section of the grocery store was dedicated to soda. Who needs 100 soda options? Not only is there an entire aisle of cookies, there is also an aisle dedicated to snacks and chips.  To make matters worse, there is a school snack section. Guess what was missing from that section? Healthy options.  In the check out line, tabloids and celebrities photos mock you.  There was a photo of Reese Witherspoon.  The magazine was speculating that she was pregnant.  The photo they showed of her baby bump looked like every healthy girl I know in American.  No wonder so many woman have self-image issues.

While I can’t control TV commercials, grocery store marketing strategies, or American’s obsession with a fake celebrity world, I can control my life (Notice a theme lately in my blogs – Guess who has control issues?). I can make sure I place magnets on mile markers in my life that will lead me to where I want to go.  We all deserve to lead a life that is heading in a positive direction. It’s so important to think about your life mission. Create a life mission for yourself. Find milestones along the way that you can place magnets on and let them be the force that pulls you towards your dreams.

Take today to place a magnet on a goal in the future. It can be as simple as skipping the cookie aisle during grocery shopping. It can be as big as starting your own business. Your heart will tell you where it wants to go. Place a magnet along the path that will get you to that goal!

(Please feel free to share! Not only do I love knowing, it’s helpful to share to keep yourself accountable! Tell me. Tell your best friend. Post it on your bathroom mirror.)