Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Dreaming is a form of planning...

 I have been thinking a lot lately about changes that I want to make in my life. Goals that need to be accomplished. I say goals, because they aren't resolutions. I find that even labeling changes that need to be made as resolutions sets oneself up for failure as most resolutions usually end up being broken. I've challenged myself to be more serious about my goals and what I need to do in order to make these changes in my life...I have worked on this post on and off. Put it aside to finish it later. I find myself sitting down to finish it on Ash Wednesday. Kind of ironic, I think, as Ash Wednesday begins a period in which Christians give up something a symbol of the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross. In previous years, I have strictly given up different things such as soda, candy, chocolate, but this year as I have been contemplating these long term goals, I want them to be my focus.

Here they are:

1. Eating more healthy. Cutting out fast food. Making sure to get in the right amount of fruits and vegetables. Watching the amount of sugar (candy, sweets, soda that I consume). Drinking more water. Eating a breakfast that has more protein. Getting healthier snacks such as cheese, yogurt, fruits/vegetables, peanuts, etc...
2. Exercise. Over the past three months that I have been dealing with my injury, the ability to even go for a walk has been impossible to do without experiencing lots of pain. I need to slowly start walking around the block and from there easing into longer walks. My puppy could use the exercise too. This will require me to have to get up a little bit earlier, and go to bed a few minutes earlier as well.
3. Devotions and daily scripture reading. This is something that I have struggled with on and on off. I'm really good at making a daily effort to do so for about three months at a time and then I stop for another three months at a time.  I see the benefits when I do so, and am a strong believer in being in the Word every single day. I need to stop making excuses, sleeping in, and just do it.
4. Making time for play. I love to read. I love to scrapbook. I love photography. I find myself so busy lately that I don't have time for the fun things. Finding a balance between work, school, studying and church activities where I have the time to meet up with friends for coffee or go for a walk with my camera.
5. Stay organized at home. If you were to walk into my office at the moment, you would think that I'm an extremely organized person. This is not always the case. I am organized at work and with my school responsibilites, but at home this is not the case. There are piles of clean laundry all over my room waiting to be put away, scrapbooking supplies to be sorted and purged, books stacked up, and on and on...I come home at night and am overwhelmed by this and so I need to stop everything for one afternoon sometime soon and attack the clutter. I know that if my own personal space is taken care of , that I will start feeling more calm and less stressed.
6. Writing at least once a week. I started this blog a few years back as a place to record my thoughts (which could also be encorporated into my scrapbook albums). When I picked it up a few months ago, I hadn't written anything in about two years. I know if I don't get the words down on paper, no one else do, so there's no better time to start than now!

I know that these goals are not something that can be completed overnight, in a week, or in one single weekend. They are going to take me some time to accomplish, just as it has taken me awhile to get to a place where I have had to look back and realize that these changes need to be made. I'm committed to diligently working at accomplishing them and am looking forward to the results!

No comments: