LJ CPR
Sunday night, on New Years Day, I went to hippie church, a.k.a. Mosaic, with Rigel. There was this big casket-sized box full of dirt in the middle of the room and dead leaves on the ground. Three people got up and gave their 2005 obituaries - a rundown of what had happened in their lives over the year. The leader had us write down everything major that happened to us. I did mine on a timeline. Then, we were instructed to choose a leaf that would represent 2005 and to bury it in the box, or crumble it - to put it to death. Then we followed these "pallbearers," who carried the box, downstairs and outside. We were handed seeds. We sat down on the grass while a couple of people painted the outside of the black box white. We lined up and took communion and buried our seeds...our hopes for 2006. Then we got these instruments and everyone played along to these rockin' songs with words scribbled down on copied pieces of paper.
So that made me think. What do I want for 2006? I had made a couple of resolutions, which I don't normally do, but what were my goals beyond that? So yesterday, Rigel and I went to a coffee shop to read, which is what you do when you're barely scrapin' by and it's right after Christmas, and we decided to write down our goals. I got a pretty dang good list, and I plan to check off at least 80 percent of the items. If you wanna see it, here it is. Oh, and it's in past tense, because apparently, that's a way to psyche yourself out and make yourself believe you can and have accomplished it. Strange, I know. Anyway, I'm not putting everything...some things are a bit too personal, but most things are on here.
1. Spiritual/church goals
a. Joined a church
b. Finished reading through the Bible by May
c. Worked actively with the Alzheimer's Association or Alzheimer's patients by February
d. Met with Rigel at least twice a week to do a devotional
2. Personal goals
a. Exercised at least three times a week
b. Got body fat to 17.6 percent by May
c. Enrolled in a creative writing class by September
d. Tracked all my goals each week
3. Family goals
a. Visited parents every six weeks
b. Called Britney once a week
c. Called Yvette once a month
4. Financial goals
a. Attended financial workshop
b. Applied for one job per week
c. Submitted manuscript to at least 25 publishers
d. Submitted misc. writing to journals and publications 12 times or more
5. Educational goals
a. Studied for GRE and took it by July
b. Applied to grad schools by July
c. Applied for scholarships and grants by October
d. Enrolled in classes
So that made me think. What do I want for 2006? I had made a couple of resolutions, which I don't normally do, but what were my goals beyond that? So yesterday, Rigel and I went to a coffee shop to read, which is what you do when you're barely scrapin' by and it's right after Christmas, and we decided to write down our goals. I got a pretty dang good list, and I plan to check off at least 80 percent of the items. If you wanna see it, here it is. Oh, and it's in past tense, because apparently, that's a way to psyche yourself out and make yourself believe you can and have accomplished it. Strange, I know. Anyway, I'm not putting everything...some things are a bit too personal, but most things are on here.
1. Spiritual/church goals
a. Joined a church
b. Finished reading through the Bible by May
c. Worked actively with the Alzheimer's Association or Alzheimer's patients by February
d. Met with Rigel at least twice a week to do a devotional
2. Personal goals
a. Exercised at least three times a week
b. Got body fat to 17.6 percent by May
c. Enrolled in a creative writing class by September
d. Tracked all my goals each week
3. Family goals
a. Visited parents every six weeks
b. Called Britney once a week
c. Called Yvette once a month
4. Financial goals
a. Attended financial workshop
b. Applied for one job per week
c. Submitted manuscript to at least 25 publishers
d. Submitted misc. writing to journals and publications 12 times or more
5. Educational goals
a. Studied for GRE and took it by July
b. Applied to grad schools by July
c. Applied for scholarships and grants by October
d. Enrolled in classes