My Eye is on the Wrong Ball at the Right Time

Yesterday's sermon at Zion Lutheran Church was about 'Keeping Your Eye on the Prize' (which in this context is Eternal Life with our Heavenly Father).  It inspired me to look at my earthly goals and do a little self examination on where I'm at.  Although I've made progress since first establishing my goal, lately I've been sort of sedentary.  My weight loss has hovered around 10 pounds for the last three weeks, which is why I added 'Exercise' to my goals (to get the pounds moving south again).  I haven't made any progress on my credit cards or digging into my credit report (and taking action on old accounts).  I got my first check from Arbonne!  It was $68....a far cry from $500, but it's better than nothing.
So, before I started beating myself up I dug into what is truly going on.  Am I afraid of my goals?  Are they too ambitious?  Are they really 'my goals', or are they goals that are expected of me?
What I found is that it's none of the above.  It's time and priorities....which can easily turn into excuses, so I'm treading lightly here.  The truth is that it's summer!!  And for the last two weeks (and this upcoming week) I have had a baseball game or softball game every night....really.  I'm finding that when you are a single parent you don't have the luxury of skipping a game by sending the other spouse in your absence.  So I attend each and every game, cheering my two favorite athletes on, taking pictures, socializing with the parents, and making quick suppers as we head out the door, or when we return around 8:30 pm.  What does this have to do with my stale goals?
First, meal planning has been difficult....when I'm on the road and out of the house for 3-4 hours a night I tend to eat convenient food (which usually isn't good for my body).   Second, my typical exercise time is between 6-8 pm in my basement (where I hop on the treadmill or do my Wii Active), obviously if I'm not in the house during those hours, I'm not exercising.  Third, I'm not working on my credit report and bills when I'm not home!
So what?  Even though accomplishing my goals is very important to me, nothing is more important than 'being present' for my kids....because baseball & softball season will  be over soon, and 4 years from now I won't have the opportunity to spend my evenings with Dakota.   So, even though my eye is not on the prize right now, it is focused in the right direction at the moment.

Having said that....there are adjustments I need to make.  I can plan better for 'transportable' meals to grab and go from my fridge on game days.  I may need to adjust my workout schedule a bit by taking Stella for a walk after the game, or getting up earlier in the morning to work out (yuck!).  I could carve out more time on the weekends to work on finances.  If you have any ideas for me please comment!  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading!
Rebecca