Messy Monday: Goals, Plans, and Great Expectations

Last Monday I completely soaked up my family time and let the Messiness of the week before fade into the last minutes of 2018. It was a rough year with some great highlights.

I realized, while watching the Rose Parade (streaming poorly-this sad California girl was not happy) that I didn't accomplish my final most likely to happen goal of 2018: Buy Awesome RED Shoes

Seriously, who puts off buying glorious red shoes?! Apparently me. Because it didn't happen. I'm going to just let it go, I think. If, like Dorothy, some amazing red shoes show up right in front of me, then maybe I'll buy them.

Goals: This past weekend we did something as a family besides puberty stricken alpha males posturing for supremacy and avoid chores with equal intensity. I walked them each through my favorite Goal Setting Plan I got from my Coach and Friend, Terry Gurno. It is the 1-3-5 method. I asked a few questions I gathered from my Living Well Planner by Ruth Soukup, and then started writing what they said.

We each prayed about what word we would focus on for the year.

Our big 3 goals.

Then the 1-3-5

1) A statement that puts into a sentence or two what you want to achieve for the coming year.
3) Write the three goals listed in your sentence.
5) Write down 5 things you can do to accomplish the goal.

Here is Mine for this year:
My Word: Embrace

My big 3: Take Action, Get Stronger, Stay Open

ONE: In 2019 I will embrace taking more action, getting stronger, and staying open to being led by the Spirit. 

THREE and FIVE:

1--Take Action - Just DO it! No more pondering, planning, waiting, avoiding, or procrastinating.
     1)Workout
     2) Write
     3) Organize
     4) Clean
     5) Pray

2-- Get Stronger - Power UP!
     1) Mentally Stronger: Push through hard stuff - engage tenacity!
     2) Physically Stronger: Endurance cardio and weight lifting
     3) Spiritually Stronger: Read New Testament and write down/pray through my dreams
     4) Emotionally Stronger - Allow space for being a woman (in my man-full house), counseling
     5) Practically Stronger - Gym bag packed and ready, playlists, good Kleenex, journal   

3-- Stay Open - Flexible, available, come what may.
     1) Listen carefully to Spirit - be quiet
     2) Schedule "Open" times for appointments that arise
     3) Say YES more, to Spirit, to my Love, my fellas, as led
     4) Available mindset - don't be so focused on my agenda that I miss something important
     5) Embrace curve balls - something is always going to shake up the plan, go with it!

Plans: We keep making plans and like an epic game of whack-a-mole - and then something pops up. Then something else before you can grab a hammer, then something else once you whack the mole, another one shows up, but what if I grab a hammer in each hand and play! Laugh as the moles pop up, I bop them on the head and then again and again. Pretend this is that famous Mouse with bad pizza and sticky floors place and jump in all the way!!!

Great Expectations: After six months of a migraine, a complete hysterectomy, recovery from both, medical bills, sons in horrible situations/events that required constant attention and collaboration with the administration of schools, police, administration in other organizations, doctors, and nurses, I have high hopes for 2019. As I stated above, regardless of what comes my way, I am much stronger than I was at the beginning of 2018. For that, I am incredibly grateful!

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions and I have a copy of the actual 1-3-5 form you can fill out.

Five Minute Free Write: The Gift Of A Door

 These pictures are of DOORs. Open and closed. Focus on the DOOR? How can you? Are the people in front of it, behind it, beside it distracting you?

The point of the DOOR is who you let in and who you let out.

Unforgiveness locks the one who hurt you behind the DOOR with you. Both of you trapped inside the darkness in the closet of pain. Forgiveness opens the DOOR and makes you stronger in the choosing. You might even become a super hero if you keep up the consistent work of forgiving those who hurt you.



Sometimes, as a hero, you need a helmet. To guard your mind and your head from bonking it on a DOOR that could be closed by someone else (like a cranky mischievous brother). Protecting your mind from negative thinking when DOORs close on you, it may feel like the worst thing that happens, but likely something better is coming along. you just don't see it yet.




Sometimes a DOOR is a shield. Protecting you and others from seeing, doing or saying something that shouldn't be seen, done or said. I felt like that in a wet suit. You can't unsee it, its hard to put on and you best say nothing about how hot I look in it!

A DOOR is a gift. Don't be afraid if it's closed or if it's open. Focus on WHO matters inside and outside the DOOR. It's you and your people.

COMPLETE yet?

I love Fridays. It's actually my favorite day of the week. It's always been like this. It didn't matter if I worked, went to school, stayed home, Friday is my favorite!

Here is my Five Minute Friday writing for this week.

The word this week is COMPLETE.

START:

This made me laugh. Talk about COMPLETE instructions.

What instructions are you following? I want to be me. COMPLETEly me. A natural born people pleaser, I have discovered more this year, when my ability to perform to any kind of "standard" I might set for myself or anyone else might try to set for me, I fail. COMPLETEly.

I'm not the me I used to recognize easily in the mirror. A couple of years ago I saw this in a store window and I bought it. It's a recycled bag. It still speaks to me. There is nothing wrong with being regular. I like regular, but for me to be COMPLETE it's gotta be like this:

I'm embracing the messy (see Messy Monday posts) of life with both arms wide open. Finding balance pressing in to the challenges of life then giving myself space to rest then getting back "out there" finally makes me feel COMPLETE.

"Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and COMPLETE, not lacking anything." (James 1:4)

No further instructions needed.

If you haven't found your COMPLETE yet. Not to worry. You will.

If you need help. Let me know.

STOP.