While on my recent family road trip, I did some thinking. Possibly even some reprioritizing and mental rearranging. I learned some things about myself. Realization dawned in regards to the way I have been doing certain things and motivation to change appeared in it's wake. Additionally, I was inspired by my own family and the families we stayed with. I could expound on this stuff for a few dozen pages (and I know I'm being vague, but I'll go into more detail below. Relax! :p), but I will summarize my epiphanies thusly: 1) Don't sweat the small stuff. 2) It's never too late to change or make things better, within the realm of your ability. And 3) it's unbelievably easy to be lazily (or stubbornly) complacent without even realizing it, chalking it up to our current circumstances or attitude being "where God wants me". God is certainly the ultimate Authority, but not to blame for bad attitudes or moods or for not making the most of the situation He has put us in.
With that said, here are my goals for 2012 in no specific order, in response to what I have learned recently.
1. Be more enterprising. If I see a need, fill it. Small or large scale. Don't wait for someone else to do it.
2. Get my diabetes under more strict control. I recently switched to injections from my insulin pump, which wasn't working as intended, and I have been doing better overall. (I'm a huge advocate of pumps, don't get me wrong. I had been using one for so long that scar tissue underneath my skin in many rotating site spots began to be an issue, and it was just time for my body to take a break from it.) However, for a long time I've sat back and felt discouraged or helpless about not having enough supplies to test my bloodsugar as often as I should be (2-4 times per day instead of my preferred 8-10), mostly due to financial circumstances. Someone recently reminded me that there are ways to get more supplies (legally of course - what were YOU thinking?!) and I shouldn't sacrifice my health just because I can't pay more for them. Remember what I said about it being easy to be lazily complacent? Yeah. I've often felt beaten in the game of life. And I didn't even realize it. I've gotta fix this stuff myself, no one else is going to do it. Thank you Captain Obvious! It's like I just learned how to be an adult or something.
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| Working on my book. :) |
4. Finish my book and begin the heavy editing process. I've already started back to work on it. :)
5. Organize my house and get rid of or donate things we don't use. This includes cleaning out the dark, scary, unfinished basement.
6. Overhaul the master bedroom. When we first moved in, we painted the room red (Katie will remember this well, she helped me with it!), which was nice for awhile. For some reason the red feels dark to me now (it probably has something to do with the 27 layers of paint we had to do to cover the primer!), and after 5 or 6 years I am ready to change it to something bright and cheerful. If Eric will let me, HA. The overhaul would include getting rid of the old waterbed, which is dying a painful death anyway. A comfy new bed and bedspread would do WONDERS.
7. Stress less over the little things. Stuff is gonna happen. When we can't or shouldn't step in or do something about it, sometimes it is best to just let it happen. Let it go. Life goes on. Busting a blood vessel probably won't help. People stress over anything and everything, and often because of a combination of things. Sometimes for good reason. From what I have seen and experienced, there are two ways to stress. One way is caused by or experienced in a tense moment, and it dissipates after the moment passes or is worked through. The second is an underlying, ever present, elevated level of stress that is high on a daily basis. (Thank you Doctor Christy.) The second way sums me up lately. Time to change that. The combination of things causing stress for me is A) sleep deprivation (SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), B) high bloodsugar, which make me feel angry and on edge, and C) not having sufficient quiet time with the Lord.
Consequently,
8. Sleep more. Go to bed earlier. As I type this, my inner night owl groans. But daytime Christy is happy! Don't worry, large amounts of caffeine will continue to be consumed.
10. Remember that the little moments are what count. In a recent conference at church, I was reminded that we as humans concentrate so much on the BIG moments in life but in reality, there are only a handful of them in one lifetime. The majority of our lives are made up of conversations, emotions, actions and reactions, thoughts, words, etc. etc. I want each one of those to reflect Jesus and who He has made me.
11. Spend less time on me while Audrey is awake, and when she is asleep, make the most of "me time". We have a lot of fun together. I'm just usually so caught up in what I'm trying to do that I miss out on sweet moments or things we could be doing together.
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| Clearly I would prefer that a vacation be taken near a beach. Any beach. :p |
13. Take care of my family first but make time to pour into other people. To enjoy friendships. To do my part in giving God the opportunity to be used in the lives of those around me. God can use anyone at any time really whether they wish for it or not right? But I figure it's best to do my part and give of myself so that He can use me.
14. This is more of a PS. I really really really want to get a sweet camera this year. Chances are it won't happen, but I just HAD to put this on here. I can dream!!!! :) I want to start posting amazingly beautiful, super high quality photos!! *bouncebouncebounce*
15. Another PS. I'll work on being less serious in my next blog! WHEW!
All of these things are easier said than done. But it's good to have goals and to be motivated. What's on your to-do list?
1 comment:
Ugh, blast that red paint! :) Aaahh, well, at least we had fun while we did it! If you need someone to help paint over it...ask Eric!
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