I have been a big fan of Valorie Burton for many years, going back maybe 16 years or so. I used to work at a large church, and we had a weekly lunchtime Bible study. I remember we went through one of Valorie’s earliest books and I was hooked. I love her thoughtfulness and genuineness that she brings to every book and every post on social media.
This week I have been following along with her Vision Board Challenge for 2023.
It’s been a great experience to focus on a vision board (it’s been years since I’ve put together one) and setting goals and taking a look at the current state of affairs in my life. Where do I want to go? Am I where I thought I might be at this point in life? What needs tweaking? What do I need to experiment with and maybe make a change?
One of the things she talked about Wednesday was Growth Gaps and for some reason, it made me think of Cumberland Gap in Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. I’ve only driven through that area a couple of times. I’ve heard about it many times but didn’t actually know what it looked like or what it meant to drive through that area. I remember driving through there for the first time a couple of years ago. I was seeing this mountain up ahead and wasn’t able to see how we were going to get around or through the mountain. And as we got closer it was evident that there was a tunnel that would take us straight through the actual mountain. I looked up some information about it online and it turns out that the old route used to go up to the top of the mountain and make some very sharp switchback curves, and it was notorious for deaths because cars would go off the side of the road and fall off the cliff. So, the engineering solution was to go through the mountain and build this big, amazing tunnel. And in Valorie Burton’s Vision Board Challenge Facebook Live Wednesday she talked about Growth Gaps and sometimes we need to figure out if we need to go around the mountain, if we need to go up over top of the mountain, or if we need to build a tunnel and go through the mountain. And the mountain is whatever obstacle that is standing in our way of getting to a better version of ourselves.
It’s the New Year (still) and a catchy time to say, ‘New Year, New You.’ And so many people think about resolutions and goals. And this is the year it’s going to be great; this is the year I’m going to conquer my To Do List… But after a few days or a few weeks or maybe a month or two we go back to our old familiar comfortable self. And we don’t always achieve the things that we want. And then the whole year passes, and we come back around in January and we start over again.
So, I just wanted to encourage you today.
If you woke up this morning and you are still breathing, you are still here and there is still opportunity and hope for you for your dreams and wishes, and the desires of your heart. There is hope for you. But also, things are not going to fall into your lap.
And you can look at your vision and goals anytime of the year. It could be your birthday month, the first of next month, January and July (every 6 months), or Monday. It doesn’t have to a New Year’s thing. Just because it’s January 12 (already) doesn’t mean you can’t set your vision and take steps. Start today. Or start tomorrow.
You may not have your ‘word of the year’ or a 10-step plan to achieving everything in 2023, but that’s OK. All is not lost. Just start today with one small thing. It could be a vision board, a word or phrase, a feeling. It could be a walk around the block and taking it in with new eyes, and this could give you inspiration to do the next small thing. Whatever it is, keep going.
finding stoic joy 