Friday, September 03, 2010

Goals

"Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace."
-- James Allen


It is September and I'm trying not to be discouraged by what I didn't accomplish this year. I didn't really write down any concrete goals for this year except the ones that I made last Samhain.
  • Create one thing that is mine.
  • Motivate my body to a healthy weight.
  • Flow serenity into all aspects of my being.
  • Nurture my physical body.
  • Illumine my soul through happiness.
The "create one thing that is mine" goal is hard to define. I thought it would be a pattern or something I worked months on to bring into being, but I was wrong. My soul had this idea for years now that our cats should have a place to rest and be honored and this Summer we brought that into being as you saw in a past post. This little kitty nook gives me great joy every day as I pass through its gates and it truly blesses our house with those feline friends whose friendships we will love and cherish for eternity.

The second goal I accomplished early in the Summer and have managed to find a groove that has made it pretty effortless to stay at goal weight.

Serenity is a hard mistress to come by but I strive to find her each day if only for five minutes. I have been doing a morning and night meditation to at least begin and end the day on a note of contemplation and reflection. So I at least feel that I have made great strides in working towards this goal.

Okay, this goal has been hard. Over this last year, I've become lactose intolerant and it has done all sorts of funky stuff to me that has really been quite depressing. But over the Summer DH has been really helping me through it by buying products that are lactose-free and quite delish. So at least I've been learning to not look at it like a bad thing...which for an Italian who lived and breathed cheese it is quite an adjustment.

I must say I am happy. I am blessed. Yes, there is chaos around me and things I cannot control and the outcomes of these things...leaves me troubled and upset...but at my core I am joyful...and very happy.

So as these goals go...I think I did really well.

I've changed the way I look at my goals. Every day I pick three things to accomplish and if it is not on my list of three things I do not allow myself to be upset by not completing it.
This was a hard mindset to come by and I still struggle with all the things on the sidelines that are being ignored, but on the whole, this process works pretty well for me.


In that vein...one of my ongoing goals has been to remake this prayer shawl. This time I used Encore colorspun. I like this yarn. It has good stitch definition and is squishy with a nice drape. I ended up using the same pattern because I really liked it.

My son also picked out a bunch of shades of green for a new lap robe for Mom. I will start on that next when the shawl is done.

Usually, I had three projects on the needles at a time but I've been focusing on one at a time realizing that splitting my focus only hurt me in the long run. One project always got pushed to the back of the queue and I ended up neglecting it.

I can tell you that my tank went everywhere with me all Summer and I never even took it out until the last week when I decided I was going to finish it.

So I've tried to really understand the ways I do things this Summer and recreate my goals around this new knowledge.


I wanted to share these awesome earrings that a friend made for me. I love them! Look at how beautiful her wirework is! And she sent me a knitting journal too! Such wonderful treasures! I have already worn the earrings and gotten lots of compliments! And the knitting book is the perfect place to tuck away ideas for later projects...all kept safe in one place. Thanks again! :)

I'm looking forward to the three-day-weekend to just chill. I have simple goals that can be achieved while watching movies or playing games and my son has asked to do both. I just want to finish this prayer shawl to gift on Monday to Mom when we bring them some yummy food, wash everything (including beds and towels) and make something with Italian sausage.

I should be able to do that. :D

May you all have a blessed and safe weekend,
Ruinwen
:)

5 comments:

Rue said...

Yeet! :D

Those earrings are really pretty -- and I think they'd go nicely with your newly-finished tank top, too. :)

I think you've accomplished a lot this year. Especially reaching your goal weight and staying there. And y'know, you have so many ideas and goals, it's not so hard to believe that maybe it wasn't time for some of them to come to fruition.

Geraldine said...

Oh how nice to see the earrings I sent to you, featured here. I was so glad I picked a color that you liked too!

Your goals are all good ones. It takes time to finish all we want to do, and it's seldom on the timeline we'd anticipated or wanted. But looking back, often times now I realise that a delay is sometimes a good thing, and for a really good reason too. At the time, it just seems frustrating.

I think you've accomplished a lot too R, and you've had so many other things to deal with. Give yourself credit for all the good things that you do.

Hugs to you and your mom, G

Nana Sadie said...

I'm glad things are coming together and you're feeling happier.
((((hugs))))

Geraldine said...

Thanks for your kind words Ruinwen. I just did a couple of new posts this morning and enjoyed the comments you left very much.

Hugs dear and good week, G

PS: look forward to seeing the new shawl!

http://veggiesyarnsandtails.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/why-i-am-loving-etsy/

Marlene said...

Thanks for dropping by my blog. Your visits mean a lot to me and I always enjoy your comments.

Lately my goal has been a simple one. Just "follow my JOY". It never seems to fail that if I follow what makes me feel most joyful I inevitably have more fun that day, smile a lot more, AND I get everything done that needed to be done anyway, whereas if I force myself to do unpleasant "necessities" I get bogged down and accomplish very little, not even the tasks I set out to do!