On this New Year's Eve, you're probably thinking about your resolutions for 2015. If they're the same as last year's (and maybe the year before), you might you say you failed in 2014.
I disagree.
The path to success is rarely a straight line. I'm confident that if you asked any CEO how he or she got to the top, the answer would have something to do with hard work and paying dues with plenty of knocks down the ladder along the way.
It's so easy to get caught in the all-or-nothing thinking trap. When we don't reach a goal, we tend to internalize it and blame ourselves, conveniently disregarding factors that we couldn't have foreseen or controlled (e.g., getting sick, losing a job).
I've stated before that there are many routes to good health, and one is not necessarily better than the other. Still, I think the longer, winding roads are more worth your while. To me, it's more about the journey than the destination.
Imagine you go out for a leisurely walk in the forest. You're taking in the greenery and hearing the crunch of leaves underneath your feet when you come across a fork in the trail. You decide to go right.
After walking for a few more minutes, you reach a dead end and think to yourself, "shoot, I chose the wrong path. What a waste of time."
Suddenly, you hear a sing-song chirping from above. As you peer into the canopy above, you see a beautiful bird with ruby red feathers marked by black striping.
You've never seen this type of bird before and as you take in its beauty, realize that taking the wrong turn wasn't so bad after all. If you had gone left instead of right, you would have missed out.
As you blaze your own path to wellness, know that it's not a matter of if but when you will make mistakes. Like our rare bird sighting, view the detour as an opportunity to see something new and important. Have the courage to take a closer look at why things didn't turn out as planned and what you could do better next time.
In the end, even taking a "wrong turn" can lead you in the right direction. And there really is something to taking the scenic route.
Today's post was written by Leia Kedem. Leia Kedem, MS, RD, is a registered dietitian and Nutrition & Wellness Educator covering Champaign, Ford, Iroquois, and Vermilion Counties. She appears weekly on WCIA-3/WCIX-49 and is a biweekly contributor to the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. She also maintains Facebook and Twitter accounts where she regularly posts health tips and answers nutrition questions for free.