Where does the time go? In cleaning up a crate of notebooks and such, I came across a journal I use for listing things I am thankful for along the vein of Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. I started this journal in April 2020. My last entry was September 6, 2021, and there was a grand total of 328 entries in my list. So much has happened in the ten months since I last wrote upon those pages and so many things to be thankful and happy for, although their absence in the notebook doesn't mean they went unnoticed. I took some time this afternoon to put ink to paper and add to my list more recent reasons for gratitude with a couple of older reasons of significance. Being a lover of paper, notebooks, pretty pens, and lists, I am glad that I rediscovered this journal and hope to update it more frequently now.
The reason this journal went unopened for so long was a simple case of out of sight, out of mind. Even though it was in my side table/wooden crate that I see and use every day, I had let the many notebooks contained within to get disordered and sloppy to the point that I was no longer actually seeing individual books. In much the same way, it wasn't until today that I realized that it was a new month and I hadn't yet focused my attention on two new monthly goals. As part of my goals for 2022, I decided to focus on two specific goals each month, one to add a positive habit to my life and one to remove (clutter, stuff no longer needed, bad habits, etc). Regardless of how successful I have been each month with my specific goals, I have usually been good at being prepared before the next month began. Not this time. Just another way that time slips by unnoticed.
While I am still not fully decided on my addition goal for July, I was able to decide on an area to focus my removal efforts on and I was even able to make a significant dent in that space already. Normally I would have just added the task to my weekly to-do list and hoped for the best, but I didn't allow procrastination to settle in today. In all honesty, my efforts today might be the only time I touch that space all week, but I got enough done today to leave me feeling productive and satisfied for now. I came across another little notebook inside my crate...my little book of goals. Now that we're halfway through the year, it is a good time to evaluate my progress.
My reading goal is progressing very well, which makes me very happy. I had a similar goal last year and was successful, but it required more pushing to achieve as enjoyment in reading had been heavily repressed since herniating a disc. This year, finally, I am truly enjoying books again.
One of my goals was to compete in powerlifting if my schedule allowed between the uncertainty of Covid and knowing that I had a wedding later this summer. I was able to compete in June, which was wonderful and exciting. There may even be the opportunity to compete again at the end of summer or early fall. Being able to compete once was almost unexpected in spite of my goal, being able to compete twice this year would be such a blessed surprise.
Sort of hand-in-hand with the competition goal, though not entirely, were goals to set new post-injury personal records in squat, bench press, and deadlift, whether in competition or merely in training at the gym. For competitors, gym PRs don't mean a whole lot. It's what happens on the platform that counts, but since I wasn't certain I would be able to compete this year I allowed myself some flexibility with these goals. I am still chasing a bench PR, as I have been for four years now, but I did set post-injury PRs in squat and deadlift at the competition. I'd even say there was room for more.
Writing more often is another goal for the year. Sometimes it seems as if I am failing miserable with this one, but when I remember that I was broad in my definition of writing, then I can acknowledge that I am not doing as bad as I think. There is room for improvement, but my Star Wars baking blog mostly keeps me writing something on a weekly basis.
Another goal was to return to running. Perhaps an ambitious goal considering how poorly my attempt to run in the spring of 2021 went, but I am nothing if not hopeful. A few weeks ago, I did actually go out for a run a little more than two kilometres. I did not die, and it was mostly fun and enjoyable. Unfortunately, my training in the gym since then has been high volume resulting in tons of muscle soreness, so running hasn't even been a blip on my radar. That's okay.
My monthly addition/removal goals have been a mixed bag. Some months have been more successful than others. Some areas of focus have been better than others. And that's okay, too! As much as I love having goals, I know that sometimes goals cannot be black & white, do or do not. Even when I haven't been perfect with these goals, I am still making progress.
Besides reading, there is another goal that I have carried over from last year, and that is a weekly and intentionally encouraging/blessing someone. Some weeks are flashier than others, but the point of this goal isn't about being flashy or extravagant. It is about encouraging someone who is struggling, blessing someone I care about, celebrating people's birthdays, anniversaries and milestones, sharing joy or tears. This is part of what makes me tick, so even when the effort feels small and ineffectual, I hope that what I give is a blessing.
There are a few more goals for the year that I haven't even really begun to work towards yet, but there is still time. Or not. What will be will be. In the meantime, I will just keep plugging away, trying not to let things slip through my fingers.
No comments:
Post a Comment