“Elusive” Goals

by Elena T

If you haven’t already discovered this through the progression of my blogs, I am a very black and white person. I wouldn’t set a goal if I believed it to be impossibly elusive. My motto is underpromise, and overdeliver; I would rather keep my goals small and attainable than live with disappointment. Goals are like a set of stairs, why worry about the one at the top before you even take the first step? Rephrasing your goals and keeping them manageable within your current spacial and temporal confines will motivate sustained effort that will ensure that no goal is ever elusive. For instance:

  1. I will learn as many languages as possible, starting with Portuguese: (rather than I will learn Italian, Portuguese, French, Russian, Japanese, Swahili, Urdu, and Tagalog). Learning languages has become somewhat of a hobby of mine; even my free time can be used productively to attempt to decipher a magazine in one of my target languages. This is how I was able to perfect my Spanish grammar that I had initially learned informally as a toddler by speaking with my fluent parents. Portuguese is my next conquest, as I would love to honor my father and his birthplace and be able to speak to the family members who still live in the “motherland.” Becoming a lusophone is also a prerequisite for my trip to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. On that note…
  2. Attend a sporting event at the Olympic Games: In the Summer of 2012 I was in London between the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which only worsened the Olympic spirit that I originally caught watching the “Magnificent Seven” take home gymnastics gold in 1996. I have already joined the preliminary list for the ticket lottery, and would gladly attend any event from swimming to shooting just to trade pins with the athletes of the world.
  3. Witness Easter Mass in Saint Peter’s Square, Rome: As a devoted Catholic, this is my Mecca. My time in Rome brought me chills; I felt an intense connection between the spiritual history and the story of my own relatives that had walked its cobblestone streets. The election of our new Pope at this Easter season of new life has brought this goal to the forefront of my mind.

There is so much in life that is uncontrollable, but my goals are not one of them. It is simply imperative to reevaluate one’s own life and means to decide what objectives are now within reach. Of course, I look forward to getting married, becoming a mother, and working as a successful school administrator, but none of these goals are tangible or comprehensible given my current reality. When I complete the prerequisites, so to speak, they will come to the forefront of my list, just like my current objectives did. Baby steps like these will ensure that it is continually possible for me to actualize on the mother of all goals: to be happy.