50 Before 50 Part 2

So, I turned 50 this week. The goals I made for myself were on the forefront of my mind almost everyday. I must say right off that I did not accomplish all of them. I thought I did a pretty good job at realizing them. So on my birthday, I decided to review them and see just how many I actually accomplished. I was surprised to see that I only completed about half of them! The strange part about this was that I was only mildly disappointed. I still felt a sense of happy contentment. Why? I thought, "Am I a quitter? Am I OK with half finished projects? What have I become?" Then I had to consider my original purpose for setting these goals: ...instead of dreading the big 5-0 or being disappointed with the lack of fanfare, I decided to try the outward approach. I hope to better myself and bless some people along the way. Did I better myself? Did I bless some people this year? ABSOLUTELY! Even the goals I did not achieve, I made tremendous progress in them. There was only one goal that I made zero progress from one birthday to the next. That goal was a physical one. When I created the goals, I had no idea that I would be facing surgery that would change me forever. I can sum up my intentions as this: There was one goal left unrealized, a few goals partially reached and a few goals completely checked-off over the last year. Yes, I am happily content. God has blessed me much more than I deserve.

Good Intentions

I wrote this post about six months ago, but it is relevant today as I am at the end of summer break and heading back to school tomorrow.
I think I am not alone in having many good intentions that I do not follow through with. I am coming to the end of my time on medical leave. Today is my last school day off and I am actually going into school at dismissal time to re-acclimate myself. At the beginning of my time off, I had some goals in mind that I wanted to accomplish while I was off. Nothing big or physical was on the list. One of the items on the list was to write several blogs. Well, this is the first blog I am writing since I have been off. A slow, but good recovery and a recent sinus infection has kept me from feeling very creative or motivated to do anything! So what is it with good intentions? Do they account for anything? Unless we act on them, they accomplish nothing. Is it better to have no intentions and accomplish them all? I feel with that attitude, we would never accomplish anything! So, do we shoot high, set several goals and just hope to meet some of them? That would be like setting up 50 obscure targets in a field, firing a machine gun in the general direction of them, and hoping to hit a couple bull's eyes. That seems kind of dangerous to me. I have learned to do a few things when I find myself conjuring up good intentions that I know I will never realize.
1. Prioritize.
2. Be realistic.
3. Make a plan.
4. Get started right away.

Prioritize.
Write a list of all the items, goals, dreams, actions, etc. you want to accomplish. Choose the ones that are most important to you and list them in order of importance or timing.
Be Realistic.
Take a closer look at the items on the bottom of your list. Are there one or more items on there that you know you just do not have the time, energy, or resources to accomplish in the near future? If so, scratch them off now. If you cannot bear to scratch them off, make two lists. Make a 'Right Now' list and a 'For Later' list. Set the latter one aside for now and focus on the 'Right Now.' Read over them again. Is it realistic to think you can accomplish these goals within a realistic period of time? Do some of these need to be moved over to the 'For Later' list?
Make a Plan.
Once you have your Right Now, realistic list prioritized in order of importance or timing, it is time to make a plan! Is there a goal on your list you can accomplish quickly? If so, just do it. Do it now. Is there an item with multiple steps, something that will take a little longer to realize? You may need to get started on this. Go through your list and make a specific plan for each goal and when you will complete each step of the plan.
Get started!
The sooner you can start crossing off things on the list or on the plan, the more motivated you will be to finish the rest of the list.
I pray that this post helps you in some small way as you turn those good intentions into solid accomplishments.

The Smell of Coffee... or Skunk!?

I have often been driving down the road when a odorous sensation overcomes my olfactory senses. At the first casual sniff, I think "Ahh Coffee. Mmmm. Wish I had some right now." Then upon further contemplation of the second inhalation, I realize that it is not coffee I smell. It is indeed a skunk smell! Skunk?! How could I possibly get two very different odors confused? They are most certainly nothing alike! And I do not wish I had some of that right now or ever! It got me thinking about sin. How often do we get fully engaged in something we think is not only innocent, but delightful and beneficial to us. After a short time, we come to realize that it is not what we thought. Not only is it not what we thought, but it is disgusting! Satan is sly and knows how to use what we love, what we are attracted to to lure us into a place where we would not normally, consciously plan to go. Once we are in the middle of it, we realize that we are immersed in something similar to skunk! So what do we do? How do we get out of that mess? How do we get rid of the smell?! First, I think the sooner we "about face" the better! As soon as we realize that we are in the middle of something awful, we need to stop and recognize the error of our ways. And we don't just stop and continue to stare at it and speculate if we are justified in our actions. No! We need to run the other way! Distract ourselves with something more honorable. The Bible says in Philippines chapter 4 to think on good things. Think on things that are good, true, honorable, right, pure, beautiful and respected. This is not just a terrific feel-good verse to print out and post. This is one of those verses to live by, a mantra to rehearse. When I have been tempted to worry, this verse has saved me from an evening of heartburn. When I was dealing with anxiety, this verse helped me hourly on those tumultuous days. When I hear negative gossip about a colleague, this verse helps me turn the negative into a positive. Yes. This is a verse to commit to heart. So, when you think you smell coffee and it turns out to be skunk, remember this verse, think about something true and right, and go find yourself a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Obsessing

Do you obsess like I obsess? It seems anything I am incredibly interested in, concerned about, or excited about I obsess on it. The dictionary defines obsess as "to think about something unceasingly or persistently." Now when I obsess on a good thing, it can lead to productivity. For example, every Christmas Jess and I like to make little Christmas gifts to give to teacher friends and acquaintances and whomever else we feel the need to spread love and good cheer to! So, sometime in October, I get a terrific idea for a Christmas gift. I get excited about it and start researching where we can get the best price for all the supplies. Every time Jess and I talk, the subject comes up and and we brainstorm a little more. This can be a productive obsessing. But what happens when I start obsessing on a negative thing? I recently received a medical test result that was somewhat concerning. Of course, I started thinking about it every time I was alone. I talked to Brian about it every time we were alone. I did not want anyone to know about this yet, so I didn't talk with anyone else about it. Fortunately, I  don't tend to dwell on negative thoughts, so I normally stay away from researching on the internet. This one time though, I decided to try to learn a little more about my recent test result. Brian was out of town and I had some time to try to satisfy my need to know more. Thankfully, the first site I visited provided what turned out to be accurate information. My test results were not as ominous as they first sounded. whew! I decided to stop my search with this first finding. But what if I would have continued to dig up more and more information? What if I searched and searched until I had read loads of information, maybe not as accurate as the first site I went to? What if I would have read late into the night and then not been able to sleep because of all that I had read? Surely, this would have been a recipe for disaster the next day at work! This is when obsessing becomes detrimental to our well being. During this very long week with an unsettling secret, I came to rely on Philippians 4:8.  "Think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected." Now, this is worth obsessing on! That week, every time a negative thought crossed my mind, I forced myself to stop, say this verse, and focus my mind on a positive thought --like what I was going to make for Christmas!
The next time you find yourself obsessing over a negative situation, try stopping and changing your thoughts to think about the things that are good, true, honorable, pure, beautiful and respected.

50 before 50

I turned 49 on my last birthday. That makes me in my 50th year of life. Contemplating turning 50 within the next year, I decided that I want to set some goals and create some accomplishments for this 50th year of life. I spent a considerable amount of time speculating what goals I should make. I wanted them to be attainable. Reading 50 books in a year is just not realistic for me! There is no reason to set that as a goal. I wanted to have a variety of goals, ones that touched the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I included some challenging goals, ones that would stretch me a bit. And I created some easy goals, ones I could check off throughout the year and keep me motivated. I know it sounds like a lot of goals -it is. It's OK. I have a whole year to accomplish them. :)
I also decided to keep a separate journal just for this year. It is actually a planner. I listed my goals in the front of the book. I write my thoughts each day in the square space for the date. In the "To-Do" section, I write about my progress on the goals. I am disappointed to say that I am a little behind in my progress. I know there is still plenty of time (9 months) to attain all the written declarations, but I don't want to be cramming in the last month!
Anyway, instead of dreading the big 5-0 or being disappointed with the lack of fanfare, I decided to try the outward approach. I hope to better myself and bless some people along the way. I don't think there is a more fulfilling gift.

Our Desires

"Holy Spirit fill us with your fire. Give us Your desires. Hold us close to You." This song, More of You by Selah is one of my favorites right now. As it was playing on the radio one morning, I starting thinking... What does it mean to have the same desires as the Holy Spirit? I assume they would be based in the Word of God. I have a feeling His desires would not necessarily be about us. I suspect they would be outwardly focused. How can I serve others today? Who can I bless today? How can I bless the Lord? What does that even look like? I guess this is something to meditate on. When I am alone and focused on the Lord, maybe this is something I can pray and ponder. Am I ready, willing, and able to hear what He may speak to me? Hhmmmm. Will you join me in asking, "Holy Spirit, what are Your desires? By faith, I am asking, give me Your desires."

When troubles come

Colossians 1:11 says, "God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient."
For me, that last part never seemed to fit with the first part. When troubles come we need to be patient?? I always just quickly read over that last part, somewhat ignoring the phrase. I am not sure what Paul was thinking when he added that little, "but you will be patient." Then today, it just hit me. I started thinking what trouble looked like: a mouthy co-worker, an upset child, a sick family member, rain on a special day, an intruder, a rude driver. I am sure you get the point and are thinking of your own troubles now. If we are not patient in any of these situations, we could make quite a mess. We could actually make the circumstances deadly. So, instead of resorting to a fast-talking, fix-it mentality, keep quiet and patiently listen. Instead of resorting to racing up the highway trying to get a license plate number or at least cutting off that rude driver before he exits, just let it go and hum a little tune. Road rage is not good for anyone. Lastly, when it is raining on your parade, don't rehearse how wet and disgusting it is and how awful the circumstances are. Focus on problem solving and redeeming the situation. Yes! We need to be patient when trouble comes! Some situations just can't be changed, but our attitude and outlook can. Lord, help me to remember to be patient when I am racing to work tomorrow and that lady in the cute sports car cuts me off and I have to follow a truck for miles on end! Help me to see the opportunity to turn up the radio and sing a jammin' tune!