My friends and I were swimming in the ocean over the summer and it was lovely. The waves weren’t too big and the water wasn’t too cold. A perfect day. We were swimming right in front of the lifeguard so we were doing everything right. We rode the waves, floated on our backs, and relished every moment of it.

After a while, I looked at the shore and noticed the lifeguard stand was a hundred feet to the right of us. How did that happen? We were right there a minute ago! I didn’t realize the current had pulled us ever so gently away from the stand. It wasn’t a big pull, just a gradual tug that was consistent and unnoticeable. We worked our way back to where we started, but we did meet with some resistance. That’s when you feel the current; when you’re pushing against it.

It made me think of what other currents in my life are pulling me away. You start with good intentions on every goal you want to achieve, but get distracted by the gentle but relentless pull of a current. Then when you try to get back to square one, you’re meeting the resistance at full strength. With the pandemic still occupying every aspect of our lives, it’s easy to use that as an excuse as to why we are drifting. I was exercising regularly and trying to eat better before all this started. I was going to adjust to the pandemic and put down my phone and read more since I had so much more time to myself. I was even going to write on this blog with more frequency. (You can check the results of that one right here.) But fighting the drift became harder every day. I felt more lethargic and unproductive with each passing day.

I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to notice the drift by keeping an eye on the lifeguard stand. I’ll set basic standards and make sure I’m at least meeting those goals. I will check in every week and see how I did over the last seven days and how I could improve. I’ll notice the current and make adjustments.

I won’t allow myself to drift away any more.