Just a quick hello and update my progress thus far for the month of January.
Physical
Huge news on the physical front: today I ran two miles in 19:50! Thus, I have achieved the goal of two miles under 20 minutes. This goal was surprisingly more difficult to achieve than I had initially thought it would be. 20 minutes taunted me. I ran 2 miles in 20:16 and 20:05. Taunted. I am victorious!
Aside from a little vacation on my birthday and this last weekend for additional birthday celebrations; I have been working out every other day this month. Some days I bike. Like that sad sad Sunday when the Broncos lost to the Ravens; I was on my bicycle for the entire first half of the game. "I should have biked the whole game," says my superstitious self. Some days I run. I intend to keep at this habit as February approaches. February will have a pretty substantial physical goal.
Intellectual
So far so good on living by a budget! This is something I have tried before, but never with such a low income to outcome ratio. It is an interesting game, frankly. Every time I pay a bill, I get to highlight a budget complete. I guess you can say I'm easily entertained.
Fun fact: Seattle City Light bills every other month. Another fun fact: fun fact number 1 means I have an extra $115 this month that was not initially anticipated. Best fun fact: this means I have money to fly home in the coming months!
Social
Perhaps 10 blogs per month was a weeee bit of a high expectation. Obviously at this point I'm 50% complete while the month is about 70% complete. I guess I've just been having fun living intentionally. Safe to say if I accomplish this goal, some of the minor details of the next few days will spelled out on this page in great detail.
Spiritual
I've got a about 1/4 of this process complete; that is 3 of the 12 major goals picked out. I have a pin board here at home that intend to use as a status board as well as a visual reminder of all the things I intend to do each month. Intentions are good, just have to put them in to action. Of course, I'll let you know when that happens.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Day 10 Or Day 9496: Accounting
FUN FACT
If you add the digits of the first day of my 27th
year together (9+4+9+6) you get 28. If you then add those digits together
(2+8), you get 10. This is fun because it occurs on January 10, the 10th
day of my life on purpose. Yes, I accounted for leap years and no, it doesn't happen every 10th of January. This year is obviously special, and I
can’t help but look for useless number patterns like this on a daily basis.
BACKGROUND
Without putting Other Person on blast, I’d like to share a
conversation I had last week:
Other Person: YOU
have a blog?!
Me: Yes.
OP: What do you even write about?
Me: Well this year I’ve been writing about how I am going to live 2013 on purpose; live intentionally.
OP: What does that even mean?
Me: well…
Me: Yes.
OP: What do you even write about?
Me: Well this year I’ve been writing about how I am going to live 2013 on purpose; live intentionally.
OP: What does that even mean?
Me: well…
Perhaps you can’t read it in the conversation above, but
Other Person had an air of all around incredulity. This person couldn't believe
that I write or that “Living on Purpose” has a leg to stand on. While I wasn't particularly surprised by this attitude, I did have to stop and account for
myself. Frankly, I’m surprised by the positive response I've got from my
readers; for that I love you all, but don’t you find yourself wondering, “Gee,
Lydia, that’s nice and all, but it’s awful gimmicky…”
On another front, I received an email pointing to the fact
that somebody already ran with this gimmick. (Sorry Dad). A reverend wrote a
few books and established a plan I could follow, perhaps I should go get that book
and see how it influences my plan.
I responded to the email and I responded to Other Person, so
now I’ll respond to the rest of you who are maybe asking the same questions. I’d
like to account for my thoughts, for my life on purpose.
ACCOUNTING
I have long held the belief that all humans are beautiful. I
even wrote an essay in high school defining beauty as human; the assignment was
to define something abstract. I think we all have seemingly limitless possible
life paths and it’s up to each one of us to decide just which path we prefer. This doesn't mean Life/God/Mother Nature/The Devil/Other People will refrain from
pushing me one way or another. It doesn't mean I won’t stumble a few times as I
try to pursue my dreams. It may take arduous days to get where I want to be. It
may take me my whole life. But if I’m not here on this earth to fight this
struggle, then why am I here? I believe I have a purpose, a dream, a reason to
be here, and I will do everything I can to achieve it.
Through high school and college, I was very goal oriented. I
had a plan to get where I thought I needed to be in life. I achieved everything
I wanted to and more! I graduated, grabbed my degree, and set out to bask in
the glory of everything I had worked so hard to earn!
After the initial excitement of adulthood wore off, reality
sunk in. I was now a member of the working world. No more spring break, no more
summer break, no student activities, it was time for true responsibility. It
was time to go to work, cash a pay check, buy some pretty things, and encourage
the next generation until the end of my days.
As the energy of new experiences wore off, my blog died. I
started waking every morning with tightness in my chest; terrified that this
was going to be the next 30 years of my life. I can’t count the number of times
I remarked how hard I had worked for my degree, how much somebody else
(thankfully) had paid for that degree, and this job was all I had to show for
it. I was stuck in a rut, grasping at rootless weeds trying to pull myself out.
I kept poking around the interwebs trying to find another
job. For the most part I believed that my experience thus far did not add to my
resume, so I was looking for somebody to give me a second chance at an entry
level position. On almost a fluke, I stumbled upon a craigslist ad for an entry
level engineer, “If you don’t know how to do it we’ll teach you.” I got really
excited! I answered with an updated resume and a cover letter… and heard
nothing. I assumed the position was filled and I had missed my opportunity.
Still stuck.
In Midway Airport, dreading a flight back from a long
weekend spent with the best of friends, I glanced at my email. “Hello Lydia.
Perhaps you don’t remember, but about a month ago you applied for a position
here. Are you still interested? If so could we schedule a time for you to come
by and we can get to know each other?” WAS I STILL INTERESTED?! YES! PLEASE!
THANK YOU!!
Finally I had grabbed a straw that had some roots and I
started to climb out of the darkness. After a whirlwind interview process, I
accepted the new job, quit my old job, and moved to Seattle. There was still
some fog to fight through, but the sun was coming out. As I settled into the
new job and the new apartment, I realized how much of my life had fallen by the
wayside because of how much my old job was dragging me down. As it turns out,
doing virtually nothing is quite exhausting. I wasn't working out. I had no
side projects. I had no real aspirations.
MY SOLUTION
Now I’m tired of wasting my life. I’m tired of counting down
the days/hours/minutes of my life. I hate that there are days when I can’t wait
to get out of work, just to come sit on this couch until I can go to bed, and
get up the next day to rinse and repeat. I hate that that’s what my life has
become. Clearly over the last few years I lost sight of my beliefs.
It’s time for me to use this gift of an enlightened view of
the past three years to direct my next year. I must admit my idea to “live
intentionally” is not entirely organic. It crept into my mind in late December
while I was listening to a podcast. I’ll admit to googling the concept. I’m not
the first to the table, but I don’t want to eat what someone else cooked up. I
want this to be as organic as possible; I want it to come from within me. In
this way I hope to find a continued source of drive, a relentless desire to
challenge my status quo and reach for something more.
I may have stuttered over my explanation to Other Person,
but I know what living intentionally means to me now.
It means getting up off the couch.
It means setting goals.
It means challenging MY status quo.
It means approaching life with a “can-do” attitude.
It means if I’m unhappy, finding out why, and fixing it.
It means constantly looking for new opportunities.
It means fighting the fog.
It means demanding the best from myself in all endeavors.
It means approaching each day with purpose, drive, and desire.
It means setting goals.
It means challenging MY status quo.
It means approaching life with a “can-do” attitude.
It means if I’m unhappy, finding out why, and fixing it.
It means constantly looking for new opportunities.
It means fighting the fog.
It means demanding the best from myself in all endeavors.
It means approaching each day with purpose, drive, and desire.
When I get down to it, this, THIS right here is MY life. I’m
the only one who can live it.
Thanks for reading,
Lydia
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Day 6: What's Intended for January?
As promised I sat down and come up with the outline for this the first month of living on purpose.
January Focus: Spiritual
As I previously mentioned, this month will have a spiritual focus in that I will determine an overall picture for 2013. Today I started jotting down some notes about what big things will happen this year and when they will happen. I was trying to get a broad view of the schedule; see if I could figure out which months will have which foci (I looked it up: focuses or foci is acceptable). I found it rather simple to fill in the early months, January, February, March... and then October, so I've got a few big gaps in my schedule that I have yet to define. Thankfully, I've got plenty more month to work it out. Once I nail down the process, I may leave a few months empty and wait for the appropriate inspiration.
Physical
So my physical aspirations for the month are somewhat laughable to the me of a few years back. My main goal is to simply run 2 miles under 20 minutes. Ever since my torn ACL my exercise program has been touch and go. I'll do well for a while and quickly taper off for some excuse or another. Last year I did a pretty good job training for the Bolder Boulder in Colorado. I ran the race, I was marginally happy with the results and then I quit training. This year I'm going to follow in the footsteps of my brother and plan more events through out the year. In so doing, I hope to have a continuous reason to keep training. I have often made the excuse that I don't know how to train without a team. Well it's time to learn, Lydia.
In conjunction with running a little faster a little longer, I'm going to ride a little harder. Today I set up my bike in the living room and spent some quality time kicking off the 2013 biking season.
More biking to come in future blogs.
Also, in the physical stream, I'm making a concentrated effort to eat better. I think this may shed some light on migraines; or perhaps living a healthier life will just ward them off all together! We can hope! Pictured below are some of my adventures into eating healthier. Please note that I still prefer to eat with the smaller fork. :)
Above is the delicious black bean and quinoa burrito bowl. Below is a week full of breakfast oatmeals and lunch salads. I also made some homemade snack/energy bars today, but they don't look particularly appetizing so I'll save you the pain.
Intellectual
This month my intellectual quest is to live by the budget. I have already spent every dollar on paper before I will spend it in a store or in bills this month. We are now one week into Candis's college education, which means the income has dropped pretty substantially while the outgo trends towards the same. Having everything planned out in advance gives me the confidence to say, "Don't worry, I got this." In the meantime, I get the distinct selfish joy of knowing I'm helping another person follow her dreams. This gives me such satisfaction; I can't put it into words.
To help meet the goal of living by a budget, we started using the envelope system for groceries, entertainment and other personal expenditures. Yesterday and today were the first official days of the envelope system. Knowing that I have this X amount of money to buy food really helps plan out the grocery trip, and because of that planning we saved 27% on our groceries just by using coupons or looking for the sale. We chose to buy our produce from locally sourced West Seattle Produce, and I think we saved significantly there over Safeway. We have also investigated the option of Amazon Fresh for delivery and we may try that another time.
Social
During college, social and spiritual goals were more difficult for me to define versus physical and intellectual goals. Not much has changed. I can look at my life and easily say, "I want to learn that!" or "I want to run/jump/play that!" But when it comes to being social, well I'd really rather not. As an introvert I have to really focus on being more outgoing, more friendly... more social. This month my social goal is to blog at least 10 times. You might say I need to step it up, but having let the blog go by the wayside before, I think this is a pretty hearty goal.
Well that pretty well sums up day 6, the progress I've made and the goals I've set. I'd like say a sincere thank you to you my readers. Hearing from you really encourages me to keep writing; with every comment, fb message, text message and phone call I renew my promise to myself to live 2013 intentionally. Thank you!
January Focus: Spiritual
As I previously mentioned, this month will have a spiritual focus in that I will determine an overall picture for 2013. Today I started jotting down some notes about what big things will happen this year and when they will happen. I was trying to get a broad view of the schedule; see if I could figure out which months will have which foci (I looked it up: focuses or foci is acceptable). I found it rather simple to fill in the early months, January, February, March... and then October, so I've got a few big gaps in my schedule that I have yet to define. Thankfully, I've got plenty more month to work it out. Once I nail down the process, I may leave a few months empty and wait for the appropriate inspiration.
Physical
So my physical aspirations for the month are somewhat laughable to the me of a few years back. My main goal is to simply run 2 miles under 20 minutes. Ever since my torn ACL my exercise program has been touch and go. I'll do well for a while and quickly taper off for some excuse or another. Last year I did a pretty good job training for the Bolder Boulder in Colorado. I ran the race, I was marginally happy with the results and then I quit training. This year I'm going to follow in the footsteps of my brother and plan more events through out the year. In so doing, I hope to have a continuous reason to keep training. I have often made the excuse that I don't know how to train without a team. Well it's time to learn, Lydia.
In conjunction with running a little faster a little longer, I'm going to ride a little harder. Today I set up my bike in the living room and spent some quality time kicking off the 2013 biking season.
More biking to come in future blogs.
Also, in the physical stream, I'm making a concentrated effort to eat better. I think this may shed some light on migraines; or perhaps living a healthier life will just ward them off all together! We can hope! Pictured below are some of my adventures into eating healthier. Please note that I still prefer to eat with the smaller fork. :)
Above is the delicious black bean and quinoa burrito bowl. Below is a week full of breakfast oatmeals and lunch salads. I also made some homemade snack/energy bars today, but they don't look particularly appetizing so I'll save you the pain.
Intellectual
This month my intellectual quest is to live by the budget. I have already spent every dollar on paper before I will spend it in a store or in bills this month. We are now one week into Candis's college education, which means the income has dropped pretty substantially while the outgo trends towards the same. Having everything planned out in advance gives me the confidence to say, "Don't worry, I got this." In the meantime, I get the distinct selfish joy of knowing I'm helping another person follow her dreams. This gives me such satisfaction; I can't put it into words.
To help meet the goal of living by a budget, we started using the envelope system for groceries, entertainment and other personal expenditures. Yesterday and today were the first official days of the envelope system. Knowing that I have this X amount of money to buy food really helps plan out the grocery trip, and because of that planning we saved 27% on our groceries just by using coupons or looking for the sale. We chose to buy our produce from locally sourced West Seattle Produce, and I think we saved significantly there over Safeway. We have also investigated the option of Amazon Fresh for delivery and we may try that another time.
Social
During college, social and spiritual goals were more difficult for me to define versus physical and intellectual goals. Not much has changed. I can look at my life and easily say, "I want to learn that!" or "I want to run/jump/play that!" But when it comes to being social, well I'd really rather not. As an introvert I have to really focus on being more outgoing, more friendly... more social. This month my social goal is to blog at least 10 times. You might say I need to step it up, but having let the blog go by the wayside before, I think this is a pretty hearty goal.
Well that pretty well sums up day 6, the progress I've made and the goals I've set. I'd like say a sincere thank you to you my readers. Hearing from you really encourages me to keep writing; with every comment, fb message, text message and phone call I renew my promise to myself to live 2013 intentionally. Thank you!
Friday, January 4, 2013
Day 4 of Living Intentionally: Defining the Fine Print
Today January 4th, 2013 is the 4th day of my quest to live intentionally. In my last post I had a stream of small text at the bottom basically stating "I really have no idea what I'm doing but I've got big philosophical dreams. I'll try hard." After the re-debut of my blog, I don't want to let us (you and me) down. Thus I will now attempt to provide structure in which my dreams can live.
Having mulled "Living Intentionally" for a day and a half, I think the easiest way for me to tackle such aspirations is to compartmentailize my goals. Revisiting my previously published list and sorting though additional items in my head and on various scraps of paper scattered about my desk, I came to the conclusion that most everything will fall into one of four following catagories.
(Spoiler alert: if you're one of my lovely sorority sisters, you know where this is going.)
Spiritual - closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook; not solely religious persuits.
Physical - of or pertaining to the body; physical exercise.
Intellectual - appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
Social - pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations.
Quite fitting that on January 4th, my 4th day of intentional living, I produce (reproduce) 4 aims.
Right now I'm thinking each month will have a focus, but I'll still have smaller goals in each of the other three catagories. I can already think of a few goals that will fall into more than one catagory; well good for them!
January, being the first (best) month of the year, shall be a Spiritual Month. Seems fitting as I've set out to define the parameters of my intentional living style. I'm going to take time to reflect on what I want to do this year in all four aims. By the end of the month I'll produce at the very least a list of 12 or more major things to achieve this year. I also aim to produce some sort of personal visible tracking system. Over the next week or so, I'll provide January goals for the physical, intellectual, and social aims.
At the outset I know it'll be easier for me to define physical and intellectual goals; those have always been second nature to me. Social and spiritual will be a little more challenging to nail down; more reflection will be required there.
Thanks for reading,
Lydia
Having mulled "Living Intentionally" for a day and a half, I think the easiest way for me to tackle such aspirations is to compartmentailize my goals. Revisiting my previously published list and sorting though additional items in my head and on various scraps of paper scattered about my desk, I came to the conclusion that most everything will fall into one of four following catagories.
(Spoiler alert: if you're one of my lovely sorority sisters, you know where this is going.)
Spiritual - closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook; not solely religious persuits.
Physical - of or pertaining to the body; physical exercise.
Intellectual - appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
Social - pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations.
Quite fitting that on January 4th, my 4th day of intentional living, I produce (reproduce) 4 aims.
Right now I'm thinking each month will have a focus, but I'll still have smaller goals in each of the other three catagories. I can already think of a few goals that will fall into more than one catagory; well good for them!
January, being the first (best) month of the year, shall be a Spiritual Month. Seems fitting as I've set out to define the parameters of my intentional living style. I'm going to take time to reflect on what I want to do this year in all four aims. By the end of the month I'll produce at the very least a list of 12 or more major things to achieve this year. I also aim to produce some sort of personal visible tracking system. Over the next week or so, I'll provide January goals for the physical, intellectual, and social aims.
At the outset I know it'll be easier for me to define physical and intellectual goals; those have always been second nature to me. Social and spiritual will be a little more challenging to nail down; more reflection will be required there.
Thanks for reading,
Lydia
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2013: The Year I'll Live Intentionally
In case you missed the count downs, be it the best music of 2012 or the ball drop in NYC replayed numerous times, it's a new year. The latest end of the world has come and gone; the world is still here. I'm still here.
2012 was pretty darn good to me. The biggest highlights: a new job and moving much closer to downtown Seattle. I'm closer to work, closer to friends, and closer to so many opportunities I have yet to discover. To celebrate these wonderful changes, I'm applying the energy of change to the new year.
I've never been one to make yearly resolutions, frankly I don't like them. However, at the end of December, I couldn't ignore my inner voice whispering, "2013 is going to be so awesome! Just think of all the things you'll do." So I started making a list in my head.
2012 was pretty darn good to me. The biggest highlights: a new job and moving much closer to downtown Seattle. I'm closer to work, closer to friends, and closer to so many opportunities I have yet to discover. To celebrate these wonderful changes, I'm applying the energy of change to the new year.
I've never been one to make yearly resolutions, frankly I don't like them. However, at the end of December, I couldn't ignore my inner voice whispering, "2013 is going to be so awesome! Just think of all the things you'll do." So I started making a list in my head.
- 2013 will be the year I take the PE exam!
- 2013 will be the year I start saving for a new house!
- 2013 will be the year I slow down to investigate my migraines!
- 2013 will be the third year I participate in St. Baldrick's!
- 2013 will be the second annual summer vacation to see all my college friends!
I came up with a number of other things I want to accomplish, and I started to wonder how I could possibly fit them all in one year. For a few days I came to the same conclusion, I just couldn't shake the idea, I want to live intentionally; live on purpose. This year with my rediscovered thirst for life, I will fight the fog, fight the desire to let life happen to me.
This year I will happen to life, on purpose.
The fine print: I'm still working out the details. I'd like to set daily, weekly, monthly, yearly goals. I haven't figured out how I'll track these or how detailed these will be. I do know I'd like to blog more in order to hold myself accountable to my intentions, and I'd love to hear the support and feedback from my friends and family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)