It’s Good to Have a Goal.

Every weekday morning, it’s the same thing. I get up at five, workout to a video or walk on the treadmill, eat breakfast while watching the weather, get ready for work, wake Chris up, walk to the front door with him in tow, give him a goodbye kiss, and try to make it to work in time to get one of five prized parking spaces. These parking spaces are close to the door, and I always back into them, enabling me to make an easier exit at the end of the day. My daily goal is to make it to work at or before 7 A.M. and secure one of those precious spaces. Most mornings I make it in enough time; however, there are those days….

Today was one such day. I tossed and turned all night long; oh, that elusive sleep! I didn’t get up to work out this morning and instead talked to Chris for a while before getting up. He just happened to be awake; perhaps my restlessness prevented him from sleeping as well. When I emerged from my shower, he was watching cartoons. I love to see him watching cartoons in the morning, but it does slow me down a bit. I cannot help but stop for a few minutes to see what those crazy Fairly Odd Parents are up to. However, I still made pretty good time getting ready, until I discovered two things: my completely frosted over truck and the missing buttons on the shirt I needed to wear. Kick into high gear. I throw on a sweater and go to warm up the truck while Chris goes to work on the shirt, both tasks taking longer than expected. When all was said and done, I was leaving the house fifteen minutes later than usual! I just knew that any chance for one of my beloved spaces was lost.

As I approached the school, there were cars waiting to turn in from the other direction. As I am a kind and polite Southerner, I waved them in ahead of me. Then, as I was traveling down the long driveway to the school, I spotted one last space, and a feeling of relief began to spring up within me. However, it was short lived. One of those cars I waved in whipped cleanly into the space! My space! Alas, today, I failed in my goal.

Maybe you think I’m being strange about a silly little parking space, but I refer to my title. It’s good to have a goal. Sure, I have much loftier goals, but it’s the tiny, generally accomplishable goals, which keep the days moving forward. Other such goals for me are getting the ironing finished, finishing a stack of grading, or refraining from eating dessert during the week. But in getting that parking space, I’m competing against time and my colleagues (even if they don’t know they’re in the race), and it’s the possibility for a tiny victory each morning.

Tomorrow morning, I will triumph!