Goal for 2011

Since the last post I have spent lots of time in conversation, thought, and prayer about where I am right now in my life. I have spent a considerable amount of time pondering and exploring the things I want to do in my lifetime. I have been asking questions such as, "what am I passionate about, what are my goals, what are my interests, what are my dreams?"

This weekend brought up a lot of thoughts in regards to where I am right now. It was brought to my attention that in college I was happiest when I was involved in something. Where my hands had a part in getting something done, committing and contributing to various causes. So last night and today I have spent time thinking about various organizations or things I could get involved with to help find happiness in my new life in Raleigh.

Brandy said she read somewhere that your passions can often be traced back to the things you enjoyed doing when you were 10 years old. Some of the things I have come up with so far are:
piano
musical theater
chorus
swimming
God
Carolina Basketball
Dance
Playing School (ironically enough)

(Not in any particular order)

So as I drove home from my wonderful weekend I spent a lot of time praying and asking God to help me figure out what I need to do in order to create a life I love. When I heard those words in my prayer they struck me: "create a life I love". There are so many things in life that are circumstantial, that you have no control over. However there are things I can control, such as what I invest my time and energy into. I can choose to spend my free time wallowing, or to spend it in a good book. I can spend my free time crying about how I miss my friends, or I can pursue the new friendships God has blessed me with. You get the point right?

So my goal for 2011 is to create a life I love.

Some things I am thinking about are:
-zumba class on Monday nights at the community center.. believe it or not I did like to dance when I was younger.

-volunteering with the community theater in Raleigh.. I loved being in musicals as a child and I still secretly or not so secretly wish I could be a musical theater major :)

-Purposefully pursuing a church so I can find a community to connect with and a small group of people to walk through life with here in Raleigh.

-Perhaps buying a keyboard and getting back into piano? I know my parents would love to see me play a song other than You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban.

-Saving money for a trip this summer to some place I have always wanted to go.

-Reading books instead of drowning in trashy reality tv. I didn't like to read as a child but since college I have fallen in love with pleasure reading but rarely do it.

Who knows if any of these things will help me on my path to finding happiness, but what I do know is that at least I am thinking about it. My baby step goal for this long term goal is to do one thing every day that makes me happy. These can be tiny things such as going for a walk, calling a friend, reading a book, taking a bath, writing a letter, watching a show. Or these could be bigger things like going out to eat with friends, getting my nails done, going to see a show, etc. The point is as sugarland so nicely puts it, "I believe that happiness is something we create."

So here is my attempt to step up to the plate and start creating a life I love to live.

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