Three Goals

Boy have I missed writing in here. I can't believe I waited so long to write another entry. Jeez it's been like three weeks. I kept coming up with ideas to write about, but then not being able to sit down and actually articulate what I wanted to convey.

I have several topics lined up so hopefully this will once again be an almost daily kind of thing and not once every couple weeks. I have let a lot of things slip on the wayside lately and am really trying to get out of that. In fact, this is what I want to write about today.

I want to devote this entry to goals I have that I have been putting off for a long time. I have been feeling very inspired lately, it is probably because of the beautiful weather, and I am starting to get a lot busier at work since the end of the school year is approaching that I quickly found myself getting overwhelmed. One thing that I know about myself is that the busier I get, the more productive I get. I remember in college one semester I had 18 credits and at first I had no idea how I was going to survive, but I quickly learned that I got everything done on time and in fact, got the best grades ever that semester. If I don't have a whole lot to do, I slack alot more. It's like I know that I have to get so much stuff done, so I make sure it gets done.

Anyway, before I go off on that anymore than necessary I just want to write down some things that I really want to try to accomplish in the near future. I feel that by writing it down it will somehow help me accomplish them.

#1) I need to do devotions more. Since I am not in any bible studies where it forces me to get into the Bible and reflect on what God has in store for me and just really spending time with Him, I have to make time in my day to do this. I have not been doing this very often lately and I feel like it is the most important thing for me to do. It is more important than work, and my social life and everything else that I keep putting in front of it. It is just so vital in my relationship with God and also with others. I feel like I have no direction and I have no idea where I am going professionally and I have nobody to hang out with that is my age that share my same values and beliefs- and instead of trying to figure out something to do about it, I just wallow in self-pity and try to figure it out on my own. BIG MISTAKE!! God is showing me this lately that I need to spend time with Him daily to figure all this stuff out. By thinking about it for a few minutes and then going on facebook or turning on the television that is not really going to get anything accomplished.

I want to make a realistic goal of doing this. I have made the mistake of saying that I was going to do it everyday and then quickly learning that it wasn't going to happen. Eventually, I would like to get there, yes, but for now I will say at least twice or three times a week. Last night I wrote myself out a daily schedule and made sure to block out twenty minutes or so to spending time with God- whether it be listening to Christian music and not doing anything else, reading the bible, reading other Christian study books, and praying. Any of the above is incorporated in this twenty minutes and I have found that mixing it up is a good idea.

#2) Lose Weight. I know everybody probably feels this way, but for me it's more of eating healthier and excercizing more. I am an incredibly picky eater so it's very hard for me to keep any kind of diet or anything. My mom joined Jenny Craig and is doing really well. I don't think I want to try that at this point but just make a more conscious effort to cut down on things that I consume too much. Two big things for me are pop and fries. I gave up fries for lent and now I need to just cut down in them in general. Not completely give them up but just set some kind of limits on it so that I am not getting them at every meal. With pop, it has become almost impossible to give it up completely because I have gotten pretty addicted to it.. but I have stopped buying it and only limited myself to eat it at restaurants. Even then, since I do tend to eat out alot, I am limiting it to a few times a week and hope to keep increasing it more and more. With both of my parents eating healthy and just watching what they eat it should be pretty easy for me to keep in step with them. I do the grocery shopping and I will make sure that I get more fruit and avoid all the bad things that I am tempted to buy.

Along with that, I really need to exercize on a daily basis. I started this at the beginning of the school year- I was going on the treadmill every day but then I ended up getting a muscle strain and going to the doctor. Ever since then I stopped because I didn't want to irritate it even further and completely got out of the habit. If I can start slow and do it ten minutes at a slow pace and work myself up to doing like a half hour or something that would be great. By doing that and also eating healthier I should be in pretty good shape. In turn, I will have more energy during the day and not be so sluggish all the time. My goal is to get rid of my belly and shed some pounds before I go on my vacations this summer. There is nothing worse than wearing bathing suits and summer clothes and having this belly protruding out. I am by no means saying that I am fat, but I do have to lose some of the belly.

#3) Blog on a more regular basis. Maybe not everyday but at least a few times a week. This helps me emotionally. Being a writer, writing is the best way I know to express myself. When I try to talk to people lots of times things come out wrong and I am constantly worried about how the other person took it. When I am angry or frustrated or confused it helps to write it out and figure out exactly how I feel and how I want to deal with it. It is extremely therapeutic even if I am just writing a carefree entry about why I like Country music.. lol :0) I tend to keep things inside and bottle them up only to completely explode all over some unsuspecting person who doesn't deserve all of that to be put on their shoulders. This way I can control some of that happening by sorting out my feelings beforehand.

Those are the three main things I really feel the need to do more of. Taking care of myself spiritually, physically and emotionally are the three most important things for me right now and I have been pushing it aside for frivolous things and it needs to stop. I really hope I can stick with this new plan and I will continue to make a daily schedule and follow it because that helps me.