Monday Morning Coach Archives - A Funny Thing Happened

A Funny Thing Happened

Just watched the Pixar-animated movie “Up” this weekend and loved it!  Not only is it brilliantly animated as only Pixar can do, it is a brilliant story of what happens when you decide to pursue a goal.  In the movie, the lead character, Carl, a curmudgeonly widow sets out on an unlikely quest to plant the home he and his wife shared for many years atop Paradise Falls in South America.  It was to be the fulfillment of a promise he had made to her long ago.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Paradise Falls.  Carl rediscovered himself—who he was, what he valued; in fact he regained his life.  And as any good movie will do (or should do) it got me thinking; thinking about those goals I’ve set or that others have set and what we’ve discovered along the way. 

You see a funny thing happens on the way to a goal that is at least as powerful as achieving the goal itself:  We discover who we are, what we’re made of and what we value.  What follows are some of the potential lessons we learn along the way to pursuing our goals.  Perhaps you’ll recognize something familiar in this brief list, or you’ll add a lesson or two of your own:

• Along the way to achieving goal “x” I discovered I was really seeking “y”
• Along the way to health, I discovered illness and it made me treasure my health
• Along the way to sobriety I discovered addiction and it made me grateful for sobriety
• Along the way to losing weight and getting in shape I discovered an untapped core of inner strength
• Along the way to order I embraced chaos and found my path to peace
• Along the way to abundance I discovered scarcity and made it my friend
• Along the way to doing something kind or generous for someone else I discovered that I was the real beneficiary
• Along the way to joy I experienced sorrow that made joy all the sweeter

What goal or goals have you set recently or in the past that became less important than the lessons you learned along the way.  This week, as you continue pursuing those goals you’ve set for yourself in 2010, be mindful that who you’re becoming is as important as what you’re accomplishing.  And like Carl you may discover the life you forgot to have along the way.

Embrace whatever shows up on the path.  It comes bearing gifts you may not fully appreciate now but that may become invaluable in the future.  What “funny thing” is happening to you?  Pay attention and as always, enjoy the journey!