At the beginning of 2018 we decided to make a family goal of hiking 50 miles together as a family. Separate ventures were not included. All four of us had to be on the hike. My daughter decorated 50 popsicle sticks, each one representing a mile that would be placed in a jar after a hike.
We hiked 22 miles together as a family. Last spring was cold and rainy, making it difficult to take a toddler and baby on long walks and the summer was sweltering hot and humid, many 95 plus degree days, once again, making it difficult with small children in tow. Most of those miles were achieved during the fall.
After making the goal we quickly learned that it would have been easier to achieve if we looked cumulatively at how many miles my husband took the girls in the running stroller and my walks with them while he was at work. However, the aspect of it being family time was important to us, and not just about achieving a high number. We also learned that uncontrollable factors (such as weather, unexpected life events etc) can easily affect goals or make them harder to grasp.
On New Years Day 2019, my four year old counted the popsicle sticks and I felt proud to think we had walked the equivalent distance of a northern suburb of our city to a southern suburb. I felt proud that we had even been mindful enough to set a goal like this when we had a five month old baby and that we stuck to tracking it, even when we realized come October that we wouldn't reach our number in mind.
I'm happy that this is something we do as a family and hope that my four-year-old learned something from it. Not just about setting goals. Not about achieving them. But rather about being intentional with your time, quality time, and being mindful of what you are doing. Counting the miles not only motivated us to hike more, but slowed my awareness that it's something we enjoy as a family and how many miles we went.
Sometimes the process or journey really is more inspiring than the destination.
