THE NEW GOAL

Greetings,

Before I came up with some ideas for my new goal, I set a few general guidelines.

• This endeavour had to be a new experience,
• had to require some physical effort,
• had to require some mental effort,
• and preparation could be stretched among 2 years.

Given these few guidelines, the first thing that came to mind was ballroom dancing, specifically Latin ballroom dancing. I thought maybe I could train to dance in a Latin ballroom competition for my thirtieth birthday. I've always wanted to learn to be a sultry Salsa dancer or a passionate Paso Doble dancer. It just looks so sexy and they get to wear those cute little outfits.

So, I started researching dance studios in the area and finding out about group and individual lessons. I found a really nice dance studio and I even took a few lessons. But I quickly realized that I needed to add a few more guidelines for my new goal:

• It had to be relatively inexpensive,
• and independent, no partner or group required.

Dancing lessons are very expensive AND I would need to find a partner. Also, even if I did have the finances to go through with dance lessons and found a partner, my success would greatly depend on how good my dance instructor AND partner would be.

Too many variables: I needed my new goal to be as self-sustaining and self-fulfilling as possible, not dependent on other people. Of course I would get expert opinions and seek guidance from professionals help to work out the details and give me advice, but I wanted to be able to execute the plan by myself.

So, my next immediate idea...train for a marathon.

Exhausted from running around all day,

Almost Thirty