•Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
The 30 Day Challenge Blog goes on…. Here are a few quotes that seem fitting today that are taped into the front cover of my health journal.
“Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.” Reverend Run
“Balance is the place to which we must return.”
“What a feeling it is to accept and own my life and not beat myself up for the mistakes I have made!”
365 Days… what I wish for myself
1. To continue to grow as a person, a friend, a mother, a daughter, a wife and a colleague.
Well, yesterday I was just stepping on the treadmill at the gym because it was snowing in April. I took one last look at my email on my phone for some reason and got a message from a friend I have known professionally for five years or so. I had sent a note or two over the last few weeks since we saw each other at a conference and hadn’t heard from him. Well his response made me do a double take because something I said had knocked our friendship off track. I immediately felt horrible for inadvertently hurting him which is not something I would ever do intentionally.
I was overly critical (me just saying thing things as I see them without thinking first) and without knowing any of the back story I took an experience that is clearly painful and emotional for him and essentially slapped him across the face with it. I have had a long row with health problems myself and I should have been more sensitive and spent more time getting to know what was going on. And so I learned a little through this process and I try hard every day not to judge people because we all have a back story that we carry with us that defines who we are. I am still waiting to see if he will forgive me and let me prove I can be the kind of friend/supportive ear that won’t judge but will be there when he needs me.
2. Continue to balance my health/fitness with my life.
Jeez… five years ago now (time files … ) I went through a period of pretty intense soul searching about myself that lead to more soul searching about my marriage that lead to a serious illness due to the stress of the things I found about myself and my partnership along with overextending myself and having a stressful job/workplace.
I learned a lot throughout those couple of years because I had lost myself somewhere along the way getting married, having a child and trying to fit a mold that most little girls grow up buying into that conflicted with who I really am…. Anyway a story for another day… Through those years and a health scare that literally knocked me on my butt for almost a year I have learned to listen to my body. Our bodies talk to us if we listen… they tell us when to rest, when to eat, when they like something and we just have to listen. So I continue to learn how to balance my family, work, kids activities, professional activities and all the stuff I just like to do that isn’t relevant to everything else… With eating what my body needs, exercising, continuing to learn how to deal with my lingering health junk and focusing on positive mental health.
3. To cross at least one thing off my bucket list each year.
I have a yearly book of days that I mind dump into about once a week (old school with pen and paper) and in the back of my book I have my short list of resolutions for the year (I usually do pretty good) and my bucket list of things I want to experience in my life. The list has standard things like places I want to travel, things I want to learn… but did you know I want to visit all the Major League Baseball stadiums or ride the train through the Rockies to the PNW… if you are paying attention you know get a tattoo is on the list. There are other things but I won’t bore you with the list today… I will let you know when I cross them off complete though.
4. Make a difference…
Pretty broad topic I know but this idea of making an impact has been niggling in the back of my mind for the last couple of years. I am naturally drawn to reach out to people. I enjoy being positive, sharing ideas, working towards a goal. How do I roll that into making a different for someone/something else? On some level we all want to be needed and gain approval from others for a task well done. But this idea really goes beyond that… I want to make a difference not because someone will pat me on the back, but because a difference needs to be made.
So for now here are two of the things I am working at to make a difference... easing into being a Girl Scout leader for my daughter’s soon to be Brownie troop. I have had a lot of experiences in life and for some reason seem to know a little bit about a lot of things so I want to help these girls have positive experiences in their lives in the same way that being a Girl Scout 30 years ago had on mine. I am also on a conference planning committee with a remarkable group of people who every year put on a conference that makes the attendees feel like family. Where we all come away with new connections and ideas so we can all go forth and make a difference at our jobs. I hope that a tiny bit of what I have to offer make things even better.
So those are some of the hopes, goals, and thoughts banging around in my head for how I want to live the next 365 days of my life. Best to you all. Shawn
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