Quote for the Day

“Do or do not... there is no try.”

~Yoda

On the New Year

As I settle into the new year, I find myself reflecting on how this year began and the things that transpired during the year:

At the beginning of 2009, I was recovering from a (minor) health problem (underactive thyroid) which left me feeling drained and tired most of the time.  I rarely got any exercise and I found myself gaining unwanted pounds.  I felt lonely and isolated.  In an attempt to pull myself out of the funk I was in, I began blogging; I joined facebook; and I began doing more volunteer work.  I went in search of myself and applied to grad school.

Oh, what a difference a year makes!  Through my blogging, I've connected with a variety of amazing women, some of whom have greatly influenced me and I'm happy to report, I have even had some influence on others.  Facebook also helped connect me with the world outside my little ultra-conservative community.  I've made some new friends and reconnected with some old ones. 

Even within my community, I've found ways to make a difference in others lives and in turn, my life was changed.  My husband and I had the opportunity to leave our comfort zone and travel to Haiti, a place I had felt a connection with but never dreamed of visiting.  As a result, it changed not only our lives but the lives of people in our church and our community.  Then I had my 15 minutes of fame:  I had a big piece written up on me in our local paper about my heart for Haiti.  This in turn brought awareness to the plight of the Haitian people and got much needed publicity for Danita's Children. 

In the fall, I made a commitment to run a 5K, joined a gym, and began my training.  I completed that 5K with a sense of success and a determination to improve my time in the NEXT 5K!  I now run at the gym on a regular basis and, althogh I've slacked up some, I continue my yoga practice.

This coming year I'm going to have a chance to reconnect with the women in my interfaith women's group.  In the past, we've chosen to do studies of women in the Old Testament.  Although the subject interested me, I realized I'm not a bible scholar.  I've read the bible (mainly the New Testament) and feel like I get the gist of it.  I'm not one to cite chapter and verse.  However, beginning in January, we're going to be studying the book "The Faith Club" about three women, a Muslim, a Jew, and a Christian, who got together to share their faith and beliefs.  Now this is something I can get into.  So often, I hear people demonize other faiths and, although I know what is being said isn't true, I have no knowledge to back it up.  I'm also looking forward to getting to know more of the women in the group.  In this community, it's so rare to find a group of women who are open to learning about other belief systems.

At the end of the monthy, I'll be a grad student.  I'm hoping that studying human services will enhance my volunteer efforts.  I do work with the women in the city jail and with our local domestic violence/sexual assault shelter.  Studying human services should give me the tools to better serve these women.

Phew!  There's so much more I'd like to write about but I don't want to become a bore.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to what the year 2010 has in store for me.

The Little Church that Could

For a few years now, I have often found myself angry with (or embarrasssed by) the "Church."  By Church, I mean all those who profess to be Christians.  As Christians, we're supposed to be the body of Christ as he's not here on earth to do His work.  However, many times the face of that body is represented by people like Pat Robertson.  Whenever I see his name on the news, I cringe at what new and embarrassing statement he's made.  I clearly remember how he said we should "take out" Hugo Chavez.  More recently, he said Islam is not a valid religion; that it's a political system "bent on world domination."  Clearly, at least in my mind anyway, these are not statements that have been approved by Jesus. 

However, there are also those times when I see the Church doing what it's supposed to do. 
This week I got to see the body of Christ as it should be.  I have to brag about the church I attend.  It's not a very large church, nor is it very wealthy.  However, lately I've been amazed by how generous and loving the members are.  For Christmas, our church participated in the Advent Conspiracy.   Church members chose to spend a little less on Christmas gifts and then donated the savings to several worthy causes.   And this week was the most incredible example of Christian behavior.

Here's the story:  Our youth pastor and his wife were expecting a child at the end of this month.  As part of their preparations to bring him home, they had begun desperately needed renovations to their home.  Sadly, their baby was delivered early and did not survive.  Many members of our church realized that in addition to their tragedy, they would be returning home to chaos.  Rather than allow that, people came forward and did an extreme home makeover.  This link is for the detailed story and the accompanying video.

That is what we all should be doing.  Instead of judging and condemning, we should recognize needs and fulfill them as we are able. 

Time Wasters 2

Does't thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
~Benjamin Franklin

So, the squandering of time is not a modern affliction.  Yesterday's post seemed to really resonate with a number of people so I though I'd continue the topic today.

I love the internet.  So much information, so little time; but I often find that I've frittered away far too many hours.  Now I'm working on making better use of my time while still enjoying the internet.  One tool I've decided to enlist in my quest for efficiency is Google Reader.  There are many that I like to read but it can be time consuming.  And it's especially time consuming when I visit each blog and discover they haven't been updated.  With Google Reader, you subscribe to your favorite blogs and can read all the new posts in one place.  You can peruse the titles and decide whether or not you want to read the posts.  It's kind of like one stop shopping.

Another thing I love is my ipod, which I also use to focus my time and energy.  Aside from the obvious use for an ipod - listening to music - the ipod offers a variety of entertainment options.  For book lovers, iTunes offers audio book downloads.  If you're not inclined to spend money on audio books, you can always get books at your public library and upload them to your ipod.  iTunes also offers a variety of free podcasts that can be entertaining and/or educational.  Personally, I like to listen to Coffee Break French, a great podcast to help me with my French studies.  The reason I'm mentioning my ipod in this post is that I just cannot sit still while listening; I must be doing something.  Unlike a television show (or even a book), I'm not glued to the sofa.  On the contrary, while listening to an audio book, I can be doing household chores or running errands.  A great use of my time.

Recently I began to look at the emails that arrive in my inbox.  It occured to me that many are advertisements from sites where I've made purchases in the past.  I don't really want the updates, I don't want to know about the specials.  For a long time, I just put up with them and would go through and delete them.  Now, however, I'm taking a little bit of extra time to unsubscribe; it's been well worth having a cleaner inbox.  Unsubscribing is very easy.  Just go to the bottom of the email and you'll usually find a link that says, "Unsubscribe."  Simple.

One blog that I've found helpful for time management and goal setting is Zen Habits by Leo Babauta.  This blog often contains little gems on simplifying and enjoying life to it's fullest.  (Of course I now read Zen Habits through Google Reader.)

If you have any tips for eliminating time bandits from your life, I'd love to hear about them.

Time Wasters

Although it's not one of my goals for this quarter, I've been thinking a lot about time bandits.  You know, all those little things in your life that add up to a lot of wasted time.  Several things seem to drain away hours in a week, hours that I could be using to actually work on the goals I've set for myself.  One biggie is what I call junk emails.  Those emails that tell you that you'll be blessed if you pass it on to 5 of your closest friends or that promise the email contains something you don't want to miss.  Sometimes you have to wait for a download (photos or slide shows) or you have to click on a link.  Some of these emails are just *thinking of you* emails from a friend who received it from a friend...and then forwarded it to everyone in their address book.  And these almost always come from well meaning people.  But. I. Hate. Those. Emails.  Sorry...but it's true.  I don't want to see a cute picture (if I wanted to, I'd go to Google Images).  I do appreciate emails from family and friends, telling me that they're thinking of me.  But I don't want a form letter.  So now, I'm just automatically deleting those as soon as they appear in my inbox.

Another time bandit is social networking sites like facebook (and the email notifications I receive).  I've realized that if I don't personally know the person making a comment on a facebook thread, 9 times out of 10 it has nothing to do with me.  Those also will be deleted.  In fact, I've decided to take a temporary break from facebook.  Then I'll decided whether or not I'm missing anything or if I'm putting my time to better use.

Television sometimes becomes a time bandit for me.  I'm not a huge TV viewer, but I like to watch the news and occasionally like to watch a crime drama.  However, I've discovered that while watching the news, which is condensed into 30 minutes, I end up watching the same stories over and over.  I become a news junkie.  Same with television shows.  I tend to watch repeats of shows and the networks tend to run them back-to-back.  What happens is I intend to watch one episode and I find myself glued to the sofa for three or four.  And I've realized I don't really get that much enjoyment out of it.  After that many episodes, they all seem to run together.  One would be enough.

My hope with this new *revelation* is that I'll have happier, more productive days ahead for me.  I'll keep you posted.

Quote for the Day

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
~Helen Keller

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers.  January 1 is always a good day for me - a day to reflect and relax.  It can be the beginning of a fresh new start.  I've already set my quarterly goals and today I'm going to take concrete steps to achieve them.  Although I won't be posting them, I will be tracking my successes and set backs (as there are always some) in my personal journal.  I encourage everyone to use this day as a gift - to begin life anew.