New Years Resolutions Obstacle Course

The New Years Resolutions Obstacle Starting Line Imagine going for your resolutions as a marathon with many obstacles and walls. At the start of the marathon, almost everyone is off to a great start. There are a few who will still be stretching out, preparing and waiting for everything to be ...The New Years Resolutions Obstacle Starting Line Imagine going for your resolutions as a marathon with many obstacles and walls. At the start of the marathon, almost everyone is off to a great start. There are a few who will still be stretching out, preparing and waiting for everything to be just right before they start. Some of these people will eventually get going, but some will end up stretching too long and will end up never starting at all. First Hurdle A couple of miles into the marathon, some people are going along with a smile on their face, while others are already starting to complain about how hot it is or how it's so crowded. Coming into view is a small hurdle. Most are able to just hop right over it without slowing down. A few ended up tripping over the wall but quickly got back up and continued. A couple of people got to the small hurdle, actually stopped and looked at it, complained about how the road isn't completely smooth, and went home. A couple down, many more to go. The Fork A few more miles have gone by and as the runners turned a corner, up in a distance was a split road. The path leading to the right was the road to their goals while the path to the left was the road to instant gratification. The right path looked rough with dark clouds starting to form over it and off in a far distance the rushers are able to see a steep hill. The left path had beautiful scenery. The sky above it was completely clear of clouds. On top of that, not only were there no hills in sight, the road looked like it was on a slight decline. The ones who were focused and determined took the rough road, the one less taken, while a big chunk of the group took the road to instant gratification. The Plateau The ones who expected the temptations to show up didn't get swayed by them and took the right road. So on they went. After another 4 miles or so, the runners started to notice the road getting a bit steeper, making their progress slower. Most were expecting this and just kept going. Some didn't realize progress can slow down and since their results were decreasing, they got discouraged and ran back to the road split to take the other path. As the road got steeper and steeper, more and more people got discouraged and quit. Still, there were plenty who remained determined and focused on their goal and toughed it out knowing that this was all part of the process. As the miles went by, the sky started to get darker and darker as the first drops of rain began to fall making the road more wet and slippery. Slippery Slope As more rain fell, people started to slip and fall. Not only that, many, because of the steep incline, started to slide back down. This made a majority of the people remaining get frustrated. They expected for progress to slow down, but for it to go in reverse was just intolerable. At this point the scene was one of chaos. People were falling and sliding back all over the place. Some kept getting up just to fall back down. Many were yelling and cursing out of anger and frustration as they slid while others helplessly cried. After a short while, most of them quit. Their determination had faltered. Their motivation had crashed. The Finish Line? As the quitters started to clear out, you could see the remaining rushers still going at it, slowly crawling and clawing their way up the muddy hill. If you looked into their eyes, you could see relentless determination. You can hear them yell at themselves from the top of their lungs, "Keep going, don't quit! I will not be denied the life I want!" With fire in their souls and hearts of a champion, those few individuals slowly got closer and closer to the top of the hill. Inch by inch they climbed until finally, exhausted and out of breath, they reached the top of the hill. With a sigh of relief, they stood tall and proud but only to see that the road ahead was filled with more hills, ones even higher than the ones they just climbed. But these few people left are true warriors. They realize that because they climbed this hill, they are now stronger and capable of climbing the next. No hill or mountain can stop them because these last few are the real winners in life for they understand that the bigger the challenges, the stronger they will become, and the stronger they become, the bigger the challenges they can take on. These are the ones who get all the rewards and get to live the life of their dreams. "Lucky" them right?