Goals

I've read that telling other people your goals helps you to accomplish them. I guess it's because telling someone what you plan to do provides you with the possibility of both support and accountability.

I think there might be something to this idea. I decided to do the fiftyfifty.me challenged to read 50 new-to-me books and watch 50 new-to-me movies in 2012. And I've been recruiting people to do it with me. I think this has changed my approach to reading. I'm now looking for and making time to read more, even if it's only an extra five minutes here or there. I would like to read 50 books, but that's been an unattainable goal for several years now. Doing this challenge and doing it with people I know makes me feel a little more pressure and motivation to succeed. Even if I don't read all 50 books, I don't want to come in last among my friends! So I'm motivated. I even decided to read at three o'clock this morning when I couldn't sleep.

I've set up a collaborative blog so we can share book and movie recommendations. Would you like to join us?

Serving - 2011

As I did in 2010, I set a goal to do 50 hours of service over the course of 2011. After not reaching the goal in 2010, I decided to work harder to accomplish it. That is, I made more of an effort to seek volunteer work and service opportunities, and if something came my way I used my goal as extra motivation not to be lazy or selfish. I'm very happy to report, that I not only reached my goal, but I slightly exceeded it! Yea, me!

Like last year, I only gave myself a few rules.

1. My "normal" church service does not count. So teaching the 3-year-olds every week would not count toward the 50 hours. But other church service/volunteer activities would count toward the goal.
2. It does not matter what kind of service it is or if it is organized or spontaneous.
3. A $25 donation equals one hour of service. There are some things I can only do with money. I'm not really in a position to help famine victims in another country, but I can contribute money to the effort.

Those are the rules. Like 2010, I kept a chain. Here is a photo. Maybe I should start hanging them from my ceiling.

While I still made financial donations, I wanted them to be in addition to the 50 hour of service. So, my final tally (excluding donations) for 2011 is 52.25 hours! WooHoo! I'm very proud of myself, because I worked really hard to accomplish this. And I've already begun my service hours for 2012.

By way of showing the variety of activities that can be done - even by a person who doesn't have any particular skills - here are some of the things I did in 2011.

• I made financial donations to several organizations, including Heifer International, The World Food Programme, The Clinton Foundation, and Doctors without Borders.
• A stream clean up.
• Worked at the food bank.
• Donated blood 3 times.
• Became an administrative volunteer for Doorways for Women and Families.
• Helped a friend who moved to pack.
• Helped another friend deal with some digital photos on her computer.
• Volunteered at a service expo and a green living expo.
• I did the Help the Homeless Walkathon, and I raised a little money for it.
• Worked in the children's room for Doorways client meeting.
• Quilt squares I donated last year were used to make quilts at the service expo this year. That made me really happy.
• Sorted sweet potatoes and peaches that were being given to area food banks.
• Helped decorate refreshments for an activity.
• Co-leader for a park trash clean up, although I didn't really lead so much as I picked up trash.
• Made a wreath to go in Christmas gift baskets.
• Passed out bag lunches to homeless people in the county.
• I donated computer run time to fight disease and do other research projects that will help the world.

There are lots of things we can do. Does anyone have some good suggestions for me? I have a whole new year to fill with service.

2011 Statistics

It's time for my yearly accounting to myself. I've always been a list maker and a record keeper, because keeping track of some of the little things I do helps me to see if what I'm doing adds up to anything worthwhile. Sometimes it shows me if I need to expend a little more effort. Other times, it shows me how things fluctuate from year to year. Here are some of my statistics for 2011.

Pounds of paper recycled: 150

Pounds of cardboard recycled: 20+

Pounds of plastic recycled: 20

Number of plastic containers recycled: 372 (I guess I use a lot of plastic!)

Number of steps walked: 5,102,785

Number of miles walked: 2010.91 (Down from last year, so I need to step it up -- get it.)

Number of books read: 33 (double last year)

Number of pages read from books: 8,593

Number of magazines read: 33+ (I neglected to writ a few down, oops.)

Number of pages read from magazines: 2,183+

None of this counts web pages, newsletters, Primary lessons, or hundreds of articles from historical New York Times between 1900 and 1930!

I did better on somethings and worse of others. I plan to add to the steps, books, and magazine totals in 2012.

Something funny

I saw this on my walk home. Do you think it really hurts to leave? Ouch! Happy New Year!

The green-eyed monster

I'm suffering from a bout of jealousy, and I'm not happy about it. Normally, I'm not a jealous person. I'm usually happy for another's good fortune. But lately, I've been harassed by the green-eyed monster. I think it has something to do with the blue funk I descend into during the weeks leading up to my birthday. I see that I haven't lived up to my potential or I'm not happy with my level of success or accomplishment, and I find myself jealous of those people who seem able to do the things I've been unable to do.

I have a friend, trained as an attorney, married to a doctor, who's a stay-at-home mom and working on writing a novel. That's cool. I'm not jealous of any of that. I think I might be jealous of the blog she writes and all the glowing comments she gets on every single post. I seem to struggle even writing on a regular basis (we don't even need to address the lack of readers). I've been critical of her writing (not to her, only in my head - I'm not a mean person) and the thesaurus words she uses (she's smart, so maybe she does use those words in everyday conversation), because I'm jealous that she writes regularly and has people that love her writing. I'm really jealous that she's got the discipline to write daily.

But jealousy, is not improving my writing, or making it easier. so I need to just get over it. And write a little more often. Perhaps feelings of jealousy are signals to help us figure out what we should be working on in our own lives.

Pine needle in my shoe

While I was walking to the subway on my way home from work, a fragment of pine needle worked its way into my shoe, through my sock and stuck in the bottom of my foot. It was enough of an irritant that I couldn't put weight on my foot. I hobbled and limped my way to a nearby bus stop that had a bench and sat down and pulled it out. It's amazing how something so small can cause so much pain and irritation.

It's the same in life. There are a lot of little things that irritate, annoy or hurt us. We have to make a choice to remove them from our lives.

Time flies

On Sunday, a man spoke in church. I didn't recognize him until I heard his name. He grew up in this area, but he and his wife just recently finished school and came back to the area. I remember being a substitute for his Sunday school class when he was eleven years old. That made me feel very old. I'm sure I'm not very old.

I was just watching a documentary about the universe. The universe is very old. It will have an inconceivably long life. Looked at in those terms, a human life is insignificant. Even in human terms, each of our lives is insignificant. The world doesn't stop spinning when one of us leaves. Life and nature still go on.

I just finished reading a book called Momo. In it, men in gray are tricking people into saving time. These men in gray, are made up of stolen, dead time. When people try to "save" time by ceasing to care for a pet or completing a project in 15 minutes instead of 30, or ceasing to visit a friend in the hospital, these time thieves take that "saved" time. The time saver becomes harried, miserable and always pressed for time.

Time is your life. You've got a certain amount of it, and you can't save it. On your deathbed, you can't say, "I finished that project in a week instead of a month, so I should get an extra three weeks of life." What matters with time, his how you spend it. Are you doing something that brings you or others joy? Are you doing something that makes you a better person? Are you doing something that makes the world a better place? Are you doing what's important to you? Or are you squandering your time on things without lasting value, thinking that someday, you'll have more time to live the life you've always wanted?