When the Journey is the Goal

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to speak at a fabulous conference with two of my favorite people–her and her.

It was a blast!

While many phrases I heard from these two ladies that weekend have surfaced several times since, both challenging and encouraging me, what I can’t seem to get out of my mind is the title of that conference.

It was called Enjoy the Journey.

Do we do that?

Or do we dread the journey and pine for the goal?

Do we curse the journey (especially when it comes to matters of weight and health) and covet the goal?

I know from experience that focusing too much on a goal—be it a number on the scale or a pants size—can derail us.

We work and deny ourselves; we try and try again. But if after days, weeks or even months of the journey the goal is not reached….

Well, we throw ourselves a little hissy fit, pout and do an abrupt about-face.

At that point, we are now moving away from the goal and we know it.

Even though it is going to prolong the time it takes to get there, we actually enjoy our little hissy fits.

For a while.

Then we are back to wanting that goal oh so bad again.

So we embark on the journey….for the second, or fifth or twenty-seventh time.

What if instead the journey was our goal?

The daily denying of ourselves that draws us to and makes us more like Jesus?

What if we rejoiced that, although today I am not at my goal, I’m not where I was yesterday either?

What if we learned to intentionally embrace waiting, and patience and hard work not because they make the scale numbers drop but because they make us better at living?

Will you dare to make the journey the goal?

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Be sure to come back Friday when I’ll have an Encouragement for Today devotion running at Proverbs 31 & on Crosswalk.com along with a guest’s giveaway. Oh…you are going to LOVE her!!

Those of you who are Weight Loss Wednesday gals (or who’d like to join our journey!) leave a comment letting us know how your week went so we can pray!

Enjoying the Journey,

 

 

20 Comments

  1. The journey is the goal can be applied to all areas of life that you for bring that phrase to my attention. I have spent most of my life trying to reach goals and not enjoying the journey. I don’t want to live like that anymore.

    Thanks again

  2. I’ve always loved this message about life. I’m learning (slowly) how to apply it toward a healthier way of life. Thanks for helping to solidify the lesson. I have a hard time thinking of things I look forward to as much as food (or should I say “extra” food). So the journey doesn’t seem very appealing at first. God has shown me moments here and there when food isn’t constantly in my thoughts! Then the moment passes and the struggle is back. I suppose instead of cursing the roller coaster I could sit back and enjoy the wind in my face . Thanks for the uplifting message!

  3. I love this post…it is so true! Thanks for the reminder that we have to be focused on where we are and what we are experiencing, not always looking down the road to get somewhere else.

  4. Oh, the journey…all too often I get so caught up on the goal that I rarely enjoy the journey there! And hissy fits! Way to call it like it is, Karen. I have been in a hissy fit for, oh, the last few weeks. I have given up my eating plan because I wasn’t seeing progress, and I have been fit with multiple physical challenges in the last few months as I have tried to make positive changes. I am tired and want results, but I know that is NOT what this is all about. Thanks for the reminder. I need to re-set and focus on what every day has to bring in Jesus, not on just reaching a goal! Your prayers are most appreciated!

  5. Did I ever need this today!!! I went to a Women’s Retreat over the weekend where they fed us really, really well (I said well, not healthy) and have been having major hissy fits on my scale the last 2 mornings. It’s time for me to power down and relax so that I may enjoy the journey. I’m going to place my journey in God’s hands and let him drive. I know that He will take me to the destination He has planned for me.

    I, too, am a goal oriented person and apparently very competitive. When I fall short of the goals I set for myself I spiral into a self-defeating cycle of negative thoughts and actions. Thank you for reminding me that the Lord loves me just as I am and He wants me to enjoy the journey. I am not the fat glutton I call myself, I am Karen, beloved child of God. I am going to return to my plan of weighing myself only once a week and stopping to smell the flowers more often. When meeting with my MTC group at church I will refrain from comparing my progress with everyone else’s. And I will worship the Lord with all my heart and soul because that is what the journey is truly all about.

  6. I am too on the journey. Today your blog and others from Prov. 31 convict my heart again. Again I start today making right choices with God’s help after the umpteenth time!

  7. A brother in Christ one told me to “embrace the journey” no matter how painful or difficult it may be.

    It took me some time to really get what that looked like; not complaining, not being discouraged, not being discontent, not drowning myself in negativity and self-defeating thoughts and behaviors.

    And now that I’m at a point where I can embrace the journey I believe it’s time to enjoy the journey although I suspect it may take some time and the Lord really working on my heart and mind for me to do the happy dance even in the middle of a storm.

    Love you!

  8. I was also at the Enjoy the Journey conference and I had a wonderful journey with all the fantastic ladies that spoke at the conference

  9. Wow thats all i can say. You convicted my soul. Love you and blessings. You pray for me and I will Pray for you.

  10. You add MUCH JOY to the journey because of your obvious love for God and passion to share that love and JOY with others! Sooooo glad that we are on this journey together!Thanks for your words of encouragement and challenge.

  11. Okay, I must admit I had a hissy fit over my first 3lb gain after many months of being at my goal. Thank you, Karen, for Weight Loss Wednesday’s where we can come and get encouragement. I am claiming your challenge to enjoy the journey and not focus on the goal. That number just gives me feedback, it does not identify me as a success or a failure.

  12. Wow. What a great mind set. I love it Karen. I am such a goal oriented person. Your blog today was me to a T!! I’ve been losing and gaining the same two pounds for several months now. But I’m more determined now to make the journey my goal and not get so hung up on the end result. Still trying to lose a little more before we go to Northern Ireland/Italy in August. You’d think a vacation like that would motivate me, but so far it hasn’t. sigh. I will try harder to love the journey. Thanks again for the lift. Have a great week.

  13. I love making the journey the goal. I’ve done the MTC study and continuing, my physical results aren’t what I wanted BUT I’ve gained spiritual strength and wasn’t that the purpose. Thanks for the encouragment.

  14. Had a good week. My hussy fit was last week and after a 2 pond gain got back on track. Went back to basics like tracking and have been doing so much better since then. It is the journey and not the destination.

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