Aaliyah and I are prepping for Christmas and New Year! It was last Sunday! Both of us were busy with some cleaning and getting rid of some old things that no longer served us! “Bob, come here!” Shouted Aaliyah. I quickly went to the room. 

“What happened? All okay?” I asked. “Look what I found!” She said and showed to me a blue diary. ‘Life – 5 years from now’- It had the lines written in bold on the cover. “Is it an old diary of yours?” I asked. 

“Yes! I had this habit of writing my goals down. This was my way of setting targets so that I could work better each day!” She said and turned a few pages. I could see the glee in her eyes. 

“Look here! Having my own magazine house, being a dog mom, moving in with my partner….. It’s one after the other! But then….” She paused all of a sudden. 

“What happened?” I asked while she was still turning a few pages. She looked at me and said, “So many of them are still undone and untouched! I wasn’t able to achieve all!” 

“So what? You will achieve the rest. You still have time,” I expressed. “But, I wanted a few things within a certain age,” she replied.

“The purpose of having goals is not to remind you of age but to align you with your desire through self-discipline. Had you not written them down, who knows maybe you wouldn’t have come this far!” I expressed. 

“You are right! But, I might have to start things from scratch for a few of them,” She said. 

“What’s the harm? We are never too old to start, learn, or achieve something in life. In the end, what matters is that you tried! Go for it!” I replied.

“Alright, Bob! You are right! It’s time to pull up my socks!” She expressed and smiled. Then we got back with the cleaning. Aaliyah has been kept the old diary aside to start afresh with the rest of her goals. 

Life can never go as planned. Failing to achieve some of our goals simply means we need to change our approach and reignite the fire in us. It never means that we have failed. It simply gives us another opportunity to work towards it again.