Tag: goals

Happy Fourth of July!

Granted, when The Colonies signed their Declaration of Independence on July 4th of 1776, Texas was still a part of Mexico, which was still owned by Spain. But they did declare the country which Texas eventually joined, so, I guess it makes sense that fifty million fireworks keep going off all around the neighborhood and city tonight. 😛 (Kind of silly to think of it that way, right??) 😛

Nonetheless, I am grateful Texas became part of the nation back when it did and as it did. And I am grateful for the privileges and the rights which this country has offered me in my life. I pray that certain ones that have begun to become lost to us – to us all or to just some of us – be restored in the very near future. We have become a great nation in the past, and I pray we do it again, and even more so.

In gratitude, as I also do for Memorial Day, I did an extremely difficult workout today that is dedicated to a person who served in the U.S. military and have his life for the freedoms he supported in this country. His name was Zachary Tellier, and I am grateful for his service, for his sacrifice, and for the reminder that, though this workout would have been rather easy for him, it was very hard for me – my own difficulty today came from my not joining the military and training and serving as he did; his ease would come from the fact that he chose to serve this country through military service. Thank you, sir. And thank you to all who serve this country so openly.

Dear God, heal us all, please, and help us to create a nation that truly honors you and your children and all creation, as one nation under God. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Found it

Today was another great day of getting done things I hadn’t done yet, despite having them on the list for more than a short amount of time. Tomorrow, I hope, I shall continue to do such things(!). And I’m actually quite excited about that. One of the things I did today was just to spend a few minutes to sort through e-mails and to delete or mark as read the ones I had missed over time or that had expired relevance. That dropped my unread e-mail count by over a third. That was a big deal in and of itself. Hopefully, I remember to do more for actually reading those daily inspiration e-mails that I’ve stocked up. Tomorrow could be a day filled with inspiration! ;P

Post-a-day 2023

Lacking a goal

Lacking a goal can be one of the toughest times. I found a great one to have today, and I accomplished much and was very grateful for the accomplishments. Tomorrow shall be another such day in which I must create a specific goal, for I presently have none, and it is already becoming difficult.

Sure, I have the long-term goals. But I am at a small get significant crossroads right now. Perhaps this is the perfect time for me to do the things I’ve been putting off. (Meaning that it definitely is the time for that! Haha)

God, help me, please, to be my best self and to pursue and fulfill your will. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Greatness

My grandmother lives in an old folks home. I recently visited her. After the second day, I realized that there’s an old lady there who goes around giving ice cold cans of Dr. Pepper to various people throughout the day. Always smiling. It’s incredibly adorable.

And it seems to be the same people each day, making it even more adorable, somehow. How ridiculously sweet and utterly silly?! I love it and it brings me such wonderful joy.

Dear God, thank you for the blessing of getting to witness that Dr. Pepper lady spreading joy so beautifully. Thank you. And thank you for the fun of Dr. Pepper itself, too. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Returning

I’ve worked out normally again for the past three days, and it has been marvelous. I have been so sore that I moan and groan every time I go to sit on the toilet or bend over. My hamstrings in particular are shaking like they haven’t in a long, long time. It is much like when we first started working out – and that same friend is doing the sprite with me now – and it is amazing. We both are hurting in such a good way, and it feels oh-so-good to be back.

And it feels like I’m actually being myself again, which makes it all the better.

Thank you, God. And thank you, friend. Amen.

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So far, so right

I got an interview today. It was short and sweet and to the point, and I very much enjoyed it. It seems to have gone well. We shall see what comes next.

But I know things would have been different for me today with this interview if I hadn’t stood my ground yesterday (and, possibly, earlier this week).

Thank you, God, for helping me to trust in you. Please, continue to do so – continue to make it clear for me which way you are calling me in each moment. Help me to pursue you and your will as also my own. Help me to love and to be loved, with and through you always. Thank you for this life. In your name, I pray. Amen.

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P.S. I really would like to get this job, just so we’re all clear.

Pulled

God is calling me, encouraging me to take a stand, yet something, too – the devil, perhaps? – is pulling me to feel guilty at this desire to stand for myself, to stand my ground, to stick with what feels right, though it may seem selfish at a glance.

I cannot explain it any other way right now, but it feels like God is calling me to be here right now.

Ironically, I was just sharing Sunday how I’ve determined that I need to trust wholly whatever call I feel from God right now, as that will lead me to where I need to be. And now, mere days later, I am having to do just that in a very difficult way, and I almost didn’t stand up for it.

Post-a-day 2023

Preferences or pickiness?

Growing up, I had certain dislikes. Now, I have certain dislikes. A few of them have withheld throughout the years, though most of them disappeared. Several of them seemed to be a matter of finding the right way to eat something. For example, tomatoes, I find to be delicious, but only when sliced at a medium-narrow thickness. Any thicker or any thinner I not only dislike them, but I gag on them for the texture and consistency. Avocados, I love, but only as avocados. Smash them into guacamole or avocado toast, and we’re back to gagging.

All that to say, I wonder what causes us to have the dislikes as children in the first place. How and why do we dislike certain foods and drinks? Are the kids just being picky, or is there truly something that makes it difficult for them to eat specific foods? Is the palate just not ready for certain foods at a young age? Or do we just need to force it down and grow accustomed to the foods that are good for us?

Just wondering…

Post-a-day 2023

Not good enough yet

I will be good enough after more learning and experience, but I’m not good enough for the dream jobs yet.

And that’s okay. It makes perfect sense, given that I’m only just learning even how to do the basics for this new career direction I want to pursue. I feel no shame for it. A touch of sadness, perhaps, due to the need to have some patience as I learn and improve, but no wrongness about it, no, ‘I suck,’ about it all.

But for how many other parts of my life do I not allow myself to experience this same scenario in such a way? How many other places do I expect to be better than I am, further along than I am, even though I haven’t yet had the learning and experience within that ‘role’ in order to be a master of it, to be exactly who and how I want to be in that realm? How much strain and stress and shame am I giving myself, when I have no true reason to expect myself to be any better than I am at certain things in this very moment? Relationships with others, with self? Working out solo instead of in group classes? Cooking for two? CLEANING for two? And a dog? Laundry for two? (To be clear, I still suck quite badly at the full laundry process for myself, and have been working slowly on that in recent years. Yet I expect myself to be able to ah for it flawlessly for two people suddenly??) Supporting a house? Paying for life in a house? Supporting a family financially? Managing prayer life for a family? Figuring out things not on my own? Keeping a sleep schedule that is drastically different from someone else in the same house?

I was not a great teacher when I first started teaching. Yes, I was good, especially for a new teacher. I had great instincts and great ideas. I had very good relationships and rapport with students. But I wasn’t a great teacher. It took me a long time to turn a lesson idea into an actually good lesson, let alone great lesson. My overall subject-area effectiveness was somewhere just above the middle, possibly a bit higher. Sure, I encouraged and empowered students to pursue their lives fully. But they didn’t necessarily learn their subject all that well. Now, however, things that took forever or never happened come easily for me. It takes little effort to turn a crap lesson – IN THE MOMENT – into a great and effective And fun lesson (for not just be students, but also for me). I put just as much effort into teaching, but the results are monumentally greater, and in all ways. I love teaching, and I have become a great teacher. But I wasn’t always a great teacher. Just because I was good and I was good enough to become great didn’t make me great then. It only made me great now, down the road of experience and effort and desire – not merely the desire to be great.

That being said, perhaps I could chill a bit on being so harsh on myself and my life for not being better already. Sure, I may be great at much. But that doesn’t mean I have to be amazing at things I have almost no experience or practice actually doing. It’s okay to suck at those things. That’s the point of a neophyte. And I am the one (in my shoes). (And yes, I’m a total nerd and a bit of an idiot, too. Please, enjoy the terrible pun. 😛 )

Post-a-day 2023