Keeping Your Eyes On The Finish Line When Life Throws Hurdles | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

Keeping Your Eyes On The Finish Line When Life Throws Hurdles

Staying motivated is key when overcoming life's complications.

43
Keeping Your Eyes On The Finish Line When Life Throws Hurdles
Pubs and Publications

Face it, not everything can go the right way for you all the time. Life has an annoying habit where things will be going really great, then all of a sudden, you are in a hole and have to pull the dirt around you to build you up enough to climb out. Everybody can speak of an experience similar to this. Life is essentially a really big card pyramid or domino track and a little mistake can have disastrous consequences. Fear not, however. There is a way to keep composure when everything is going wrong.

Motivation. Think about what motivates you. Perhaps it is your family, your friends, your significant other, your school grades or success, maybe even your pet hamster named Fluffy. Now that you have a vision of what or who you want to be proud of you or if you just want some pride in yourself, set realistic goals to help yourself achieve the maximum. Start small, think of the baby steps before moving on to walking or even running through what you are trying to accomplish.

It might sound silly, but you have to crawl before you can walk. Imagine a scenario where you are faced with what seems to be an insurmountable task. Dissect it. Look at it from different angles. Take, for example, training for a benefit marathon to help kids with cancer, but you have never tied on a pair of running shoes in your life. Baby steps. First, you need to get your hands on some good running shoes. Next, you need to check out some beginner workouts for strengthening your heart, lungs, brain, and legs.

Walking phase. Now that you have started your journey of training for this marathon, you start to get a little bit of confidence in yourself. You notice subtle improvements in your performance. Your breathing is not as labored, you are not as sore now that your body is getting used to the exercise, and you start to feel good while logging those miles.

Fast-forward to run phase. You are two months away from the marathon. You have run further in training than you ever have in your life. You have come a long way from when you began running to now. You see yourself being able to dominate at the marathon and you have great pride in yourself for all the hard work you have done.

But life happens. Three weeks before race day, you roll your ankle during a long run. The doctor says it is a simple sprain and you need to keep off your feet for a few weeks. Instant curveball, thanks, life. You are devastated. You really wanted to raise money for cancer research for kids. But you do not lose all hope. With proper care, you know you can help your body heal its injury and still make it to the marathon.

You keep your head up. You do not let the dodgeball life just threw at you hit you in the face. You keep your eyes on the prize and make an astounding recovery and complete the marathon.

That is what life is about. Staying motivated when adverse things happen. Completing your goals is more important than succumbing to the less pleasurable things in life. You cannot cross a finish line if you close your eyes and go off on a tangent to avoid the obstacles in your path. With the proper motivation, you can be a ninja and jump over those obstacles and look incredible when crossing the finish line.

Using this analogy, you can apply similar thought processes to any problem or obstacle in life and overcome it. Having the right motivation will also boost confidence and have a positive impact on those around you, and will inspire them to keep their goals in mind and accomplish the maximum.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

28 Daily Thoughts of College Students

"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."

714
group of people sitting on bench near trees duting daytime

I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

The Great Christmas Movie Debate

"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.

2042
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
Mental Floss

One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."

Keep Reading...Show less
student thinking about finals in library
StableDiffusion

As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.

1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.

Keep Reading...Show less
Christmas tree
Librarian Lavender

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is one of my personal favorite holidays because of the Christmas traditions my family upholds generation after generation. After talking to a few of my friends at college, I realized that a lot of them don't really have "Christmas traditions" in their family, and I want to help change that. Here's a list of Christmas traditions that my family does, and anyone can incorporate into their family as well!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Phases Of Finals

May the odds be ever in your favor.

2605
Does anybody know how to study
Gurl.com

It’s here; that time of year when college students turn into preschoolers again. We cry for our mothers, eat everything in sight, and whine when we don’t get our way. It’s finals, the dreaded time of the semester when we all realize we should have been paying attention in class instead of literally doing anything else but that. Everyone has to take them, and yes, unfortunately, they are inevitable. But just because they are here and inevitable does not mean they’re peaches and cream and full of rainbows. Surviving them is a must, and the following five phases are a reality for all majors from business to art, nursing to history.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments