Life Lists

 

I remember the first time I heard about life lists years ago. I love making lists so, naturally, I started one of my own right away.

A while after writing the first draft of my life list in a journal though, it eventually got hidden away and forgotten about for a time. Over the years I continued to think of it every once in a while; usually when I had thought of something I wanted to add to it, but I would forget to choose things to work on from my list so that I could check them off. Consequently, I’ve only crossed off a few things from my list, but I’m working on changing that.

I thought it would be fun to add a page for my life list here on my blog. I titled it “A Ladder to the Stars.” While I was going over my list and typing it all out, there were things I decided not to keep on the list. For example, I laughed when I saw that I had originally had down four different instruments that I wanted to learn; now I’ve chosen to take a few off and keep the one instrument that I’ve wanted to learn for as long as I can remember: the piano.

I just accomplished #4 – get my driver’s license – on April 3. It’s exciting to finally have my license. I was more than ready for that bit of independence that comes with being able to drive myself wherever I need or want to go.

Some other things from my list that I’ve been focusing on lately are:

#22. Find several cake recipes that I love.

#23. Find several cupcake recipes I love.

#53. Become a tea drinker. Learn to love drinking tea.

#71. Read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Do you have a Life List? If so, what kinds of things are on your list?

I’m Joining the Post a Week Challenge!

The title pretty much says it all.

But what it doesn’t say is why.

If you have read my first post you might remember that I started my blog with the intention – check that, with the desire to post something at least once a week.

I say desire instead of intention because I haven’t been very intentional lately. I want to be, and there are times that I try to be, and there are times that I am, but there are other times (and these times seem to be in the majority) that I am not intentional and don’t even try to be.

Instead, I have been stagnant.

I do not want to be stagnant anymore.

Life does not get better by doing nothing.

Life will only get better by doing hard things.

By doing the hard things my weakness will start to fade and my strength will start to grow.

What is the best part of this journey?

I do not have to do it alone.

God is with me.

He wants me to grow, He wants me to learn.

Learn how to get up when life knocks me down.

Learn how to be willing.

Willing to do the hard work.

Willing to be joyful.

And He will be there. Always.

Waiting for me to work with Him.

Waiting for me to follow Him.

There will be plenty of bumps in the road of Life.

I must persevere.

There will be times I want to give up.

I must continue to strive.

There will be times I will be afraid.

I must be bold.

I want to live my life with intention.

I think writing is helping me. It helps me reflect on my life in a more positive way, it helps me gain motivation, and I do think that it helps me to care and think more about how I spend my time, and in doing so, helps me live my life with more intention. I don’t want to lose that. Right now I need all the help that I can get, so I want to keep writing.

That is why I am joining the Post a Week challenge.

James 1: 2-4

Consider it pure joy, my bothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I’ve Got to Have a Plan, Jeeves!

My roughly sketched plan for the year is as follows…

1. Practice driving a lot.

I haven’t kept up with the driving goal I set for myself, so now I am going to try to start thinking of practicing my driving as my job for the next few months.

2. Buy my first car!

3. Get my driver’s license by May, if possible.

4. Go on a trip with friends.

I will be going on a trip with friends in May, and we will be driving to our hours-away-destination. This will be my first time going on a road trip where I actually have to help with the driving, which is part of the reason I want to get my license by May.

5. Apply for jobs. (EEK!!!)

I’ve been pet-sitting for years now (since I was 12), I had a summer job at a farm last year, and now I am ready to take the next step and look for a job that will be a little more long-term.

6. Get a job. (I hope!)

7. Start college classes. (Once again, EEK!!!)

8. When/if things don’t go according to plan, don’t freak out.

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I love the rejuvenation that can come with a new year! I also love New Year’s Resolutions.

I think New Year’s Resolutions can be wonderful things. Of course, our resolutions are only as wonderful as we make them. Sometimes we make our resolutions a success, and sometimes we don’t. Some people forgo New Year’s Resolutions altogether. And considering my track record, you would think I would do the same. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I really stuck with my New Year’s Resolutions.

But even so, I love the tradition of compiling a list of things I want to do to make myself more of the person I want to be. However, it would be silly if I continued to go about it the same way year after year without results. So this year I am going to try something a little different. Usually I write a list of things I want to do without any real plan to accomplish them (I know, silly of me, isn’t it?), and I tend to get a little overzealous and end up choosing way too many resolutions.

This year I wrote a list of every goal I could think of and chose just 3 resolutions out of the bunch to focus on. The goals that were left over will be saved for a later date. I am going to set myself up for success by writing out a plan for each goal. And, last but not least, this year instead of “trying” to follow through, I am going to stop “trying” and start doing.

My Resolutions

1. Read at least 12 books this year. I love books, but I haven’t been doing very much reading lately, so I thought I would aim to read 1 book a month this year at the very least.

2. Cook at least 1 savory recipe a week and at least 1 new dessert a month. I want to improve my culinary skills, so I am going to choose 4 savory recipes to cook at the beginning of each month. I already have lots of baking experience, but there are still so many things I haven’t tried yet, so this year I’m going to be bold and try some of the recipes I’ve always wanted to try, but haven’t because I find them intimidating. There are also things that I haven’t mastered, like cupcakes for example, that I would like to get better at baking.

3. Exercise 2 times a week. A voice has been telling me for months now that I should be exercising. The voice keeps saying how much stronger I’ll be, how much better I’ll feel about myself, how much more confidence I’ll have, and how much slimmer I’ll look once my posture has gotten better. And you know, it’s funny, the voice sounds an awful lot like my mom.

What resolutions have you chosen this year?

How are you planning to stick with them?

A Plastic Card Called “Freedom”

Ah, the driver’s license… That little piece of plastic that, when you possess one with your very own name and photo on it, gives you the freedom to go anywhere, at any time without needing to rely on anyone else to get you to wherever you want to go.

Oh, how I long for that freedom!

I got my temps this summer; I’ve been practicing my driving with my mom. I have been doing a pretty good job driving, but I’m still very tense when I’m in the driver’s seat, and I have a ton of things I need to work on (I haven’t even driven on the expressway yet).

I want to wait to take my driver’s test until I’m a good, and confident driver (it would also be nice if I passed the first time I take the test), so I’d like to get a lot of driving hours under my belt over the next few months. I want to be ready to get my license by the end of May and to do that I am going to practice driving a minimum of 3 hours a week. 3 hours a week for 6 months will be 72 hours of driving experience, not including the time I’ve already spent practicing. I’ve heard that 100 hours is a good amount of practice time, so the closer I get to that before I take my test the better.

I’m starting my plan this coming week, and within the next few weeks, I’ll write a post to review my progress.

Below, I have written my deadline for this goal. One thing I tend to overlook when I choose a deadline for a goal is the fact that I don’t have to wait to complete the goal until right before I reach the deadline, I can, in fact, complete it whenever I’m ready to. My mom reminds me at times that “to be early is to be on time.” So, as I start this goal, I’m going to try to keep that in my mind and work towards being “on time.”

Goal – Get My Driver’s License

Deadline – May 31st

Going Goalward

Sometime this spring I decided that I wanted to start a blog (as you can see, I’m a bit of a procrastinator). It was after watching the movie Julie & Julia that the idea came to me. I really related to how Julie felt in the beginning of the film; she says something about never following through on her goals, and that is a problem I have myself. I have a very hard time getting myself to be motivated and stay motivated about things. I’ve noticed that I tend to follow through more often when someone else knows about a goal I’ve made for myself. So I thought that maybe if I have a blog, that I know can be read by anyone, and I use it to talk about my goals it might help me.

Not all of my goals are going to be big, some of them will be very small, because what I really want is to get in the habit of accomplishing my goals no matter how big or small they are.

One thing I’ve tried doing before, but wasn’t diligent about sticking to, is keeping a journal. So, my first goal is to update my blog at least once a week. Right now I’m not accustomed to putting my thoughts into words/writing, so I’m not going to worry about how long or short my posts are, I just have to write something every week.

Do you have goal that you’ve been putting off?

If so, I encourage you to give it another try!

Until next week,

Dare Right