YinvsYang

Yesterday, after a frantic last few weeks, my company, Reimagine, finally finished our first commercial. It took about a month or so to complete, from concept to final cut. Over that time period, I had to scramble for money, find odd jobs to pay some bills, sell off any assets I had, cut my expenses, and deal with all the doubt that comes with it. Yet, after yesterday, I can tell you it is all worth it.

There is nothing like the gratification you get from setting a goal and accomplishing it. No one can take it away from you. You set out to do it, you said you would do it, and then you actually come through. Accomplish enough of these small goals, and before you know it, you will turn around one day and realized you just accomplished your big one.

However, during the journey, it is not all peace, love, and happiness. There were countless worries, fears, arguments, doubts, and hecklers from all over. Up until the very last day, there were doubts about whether we would be able to finish on time. Looking back on it, I realized that all the worrying is simply a waste.

When setting out to reach a goal, it is not possible to see every time you inch closer. There are days when you get closer to that goal, and days where you fall back. It is not always a linear journey. The important thing is to understand this. That way, the days you slip back don’t affect the days you move forward. Some days are tougher than others. Some days can seem hopeless. But they are just a day.

Every day, new hope, new challenges, and new opportunities await us. However, sometimes on a bad day, we can feel like all is hopeless. We want to call it quits. We question the worth & the possibility of everything we ever dreamed of. We wonder if we should give up right there.

But then, on the next day, a phone call, or an email, or something rejuvenates us. We are back on track, ready to keep going. We forget about the last day and move forward. We don’t look back because everything seems all right again.

That’s because it is. The one constant is change. Things can’t stay bad forever, just like they can’t be good all the time. However, during the tough days, we can get emotionally caught up in the stress. Sometimes we don’t know how to handle it any other way then to worry. But there is another way. It just takes visualization.

Visualize yourself on the journey. You have a starting point, and a finish line which is your goal. Picture a line of roller coaster track between them. As a matter of fact, turn that line of track into a gigantic roller coaster with HUGE twists, turns, apexes, drops, and all sorts of scary loops. Now, I want you to visualize zooming in to a point on the track where you think you are on your journey. Zoom ALL the way in to that point so that both the starting point and finish line have long since disappeared.

Are you at the top of a drop, or in the middle of a loop? Where are you on the track? If you can’t see the finish line, or even the point where you started, do you even know?

Now, zoom all the way back out for a second and look at this as a roller coaster we created. It’s not so scary when you can see the beginning and the end, now is it? Our journeys toward our goals are very similar to this.

When we start out, we start slow, prodding our way along the track. The tough days are like the moments heading into that first huge drop about to spiral down at a speed humans should not be traveling. It’s those moments that make us forget for a second, hey, don’t worry, everything is going to be okay at the end. During them, though, it feels like the world is going to end. Our stomach drops, our fears rush through our body. This is just the way we freak out. It’s why at the end when we know it is safe, that we want to do it again.

Reaching your goal is like that ending. You pull into the track. The safety bar/belt pops open, and you realize you have made it back. ‘I survived!’ You hop off the track, and reminisce about the moments you were scared out of your mind. The same is true for your journey.

Enjoy all the twists and turns, but always remember the journey is just a roller coaster ride. Nobody gets on a roller coaster and expects a simple, easy ride around the track. They know it is going to scare them with loops, drops, curves, peaks and valleys, so they don’t try to get off during each one. They simply trust they are probably going to be all right in the end.

That’s why when their stomach drops and they feel like they are about to die, they smile and keep going. It’s just a roller coaster. If that’s what we are on, we might as well enjoy it. The same holds true for our tough times. Enjoy them, because just around the track is the ending we’ve been waiting for.