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Well, before I can address my goals, I must say that I inserted the little image above all by my lonesome. Granted, my son gave me a brief explanation of how to do it before he ran out the door to coach his sister's softball team and I had to try multiple times before I got it, but there it is and that's all the matters, right? I have reached a new techonological goal today and, for me, that is HUGE!
Now on to the goals.
1. Lose 15 pounds and develop a regular exercise program. I lost 1-2 pounds this month. It seems to vary day to day. Overall, I've lost 8-10 pounds total since the beginning of the year. I'm still eating well, though I'm not sure I'm as strict as I was a month or two ago so I need to really buckle down again. As for exercise, that definitely needs work. It's been rainy, cold some days, and I've been ultra busy meeting deadlines. Okay, enough excuses, exercise just isn't happening the way I'd like it to at present.
2. Feed my spirit (more than just a daily quiet time. Well, I still have a strong, growing relationship with the Lord, but I've also found that all of the busyness affects it. First of all, I'm more tired and find it hard to get up in the mornings and when I do get up I have a tendency to want to go like gangbusters doing something that requires movement, not sitting and reading. Plus, at night I confess that sometimes I want to do something mind-numbing like playing Mahjong or watching American Idol rather than studying my Bible. I'm convicted that it's time to get more intentional with this goal.
3. I want to build family relationships. Have we had family night or done all sorts of nifty little exercises designed to promote family bonding? Not really. However, I've been much better at grasping bonding moments as they show up. I think our dialogue has increased a lot and I've been talking a lot with the kids about their futures. Also, Sunday dates with my husband have been more regular and that always improves our communication.
4. I'd like to try some new avenues of writing. Well, I've spent a lot of time this month working with editors to revise my curriculum. That's a new experience for me. On one hand it's so nice to have other people to help with brainstorming, people who genuinely care and have a vested interest in the project. On the other hand, it's taxing and challenging and seems like the never-ending task. It really makes you understand and appreciate what it really means to be an author.
I also went to a writing workshop this week and experienced some new creative types of writing. We also worked a little bit on fiction exercises and fiction always stretches me.
5. I'd like to create a pretty, comfortable home. Well, I added three pieces of furniture to the house and did more cleaning than usual in the last week or so. My mother-in-law picked daffodils for a vase on the kitchen table. Does that count? I'm definitely more conscious of the decor in my house, but it just hasn't ranked high on the agenda yet.
6. We will get out of debt this year. We are steadily plugging away and I'm happy with our progress.
7. I will set aside regular writing time, preferrably 15 hours per week. I wish I was writing 15 hours per week. This last month it's felt more like 90 hours per week. Because of the editing and meeting some deadlines on several projects it's been pretty consuming and, frankly, I'm ready to shore it back down and make time for other things again.
8. I want to learn to relax. I've taken several downtime days this month where I did absolutely nothing of consequence. I can also see where I've lowered my expectations (in a good way) in some areas of life. I'm learning to focus on the majors and let the minors slide a little.
I always like to mention something about speaking as well. Even though it's not really my goal, it definitely seems to be a goal God has for me. I'm enjoying Toastmasters and learning a lot. I spoke to a homeschool group this month and it was a new experience because it was in someone's home and I only knew one person there (I didn't think I would know anyone). I'm also lined up to speak at four homeschool conferences this year in various parts of the country. I'm believing that my steady plodding in Toastmasters will pay off. I've already noticed some improvements in both my speaking and my comfort level.
I don't think this was a stellar month as far as meeting my goals, but I think I maintained and didn't lose much ground. I'd like to do much better before April 8 rolls around. The cool thing, though, is that I have these goals and can really say that I'm living more intentionally rather than just letting life happen randomly and not really knowing where it's leading. I'm not in control, God is, but the goals help me to keep moving in a forward direction rather than just waffling and wasting a lot of precious time.
If you'd like to read about other people's goal-reaching adventures go to Elisa's blog here.
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