Self-Improvement

Yeah, so it's that time of year when everyone reflects on ways they want to make themselves better in the new year. I actually made a list of goals for 2010 a couple weeks before we reached the new year. I've since added other goals as well. Goals that are more spiritual than the ones I wrote down a couple weeks ago. Not that the ones from a few weeks ago aren't still valid and good. They are. I just decided that I need to set goals for all aspects of my life, not just temporal and physical ones. So, here are my goals, in category order :).

Spiritual
1. Liken the scriptures. I tend to read my scriptures superficially. I need to do better. I need to study them and learn how to do that better. That will be how I actually learn a lot more. And if I can liken them to my life -- well, that is how I find answers for my own life and my own situation. I have had 2 amazing experiences with this that really stick out in my mind. And the way I felt when it happened was awesome. And I wanted that again. Because I received answers to prayers -- guidance for my life. I think that, if I will study more thoroughly, I will have those experiences more often.

2. Attend the Temple more often. I had done pretty well with this in Tuscaloosa. The drive to the Birmingham Temple was an easy one. Driving to Seattle is a little more scary, and I'm a lot of a wimp. So, I have not gone to the Temple as often as I ought to have in the last year. I need to improve in that area.

3. Become more humble. I'm not saying I walk around thinking I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm certainly not. But I can be pretty stubborn and overbearing when it comes to expressing my ideas. I think I'm right, and that my way is right. And that's not very humble. And it's especially unwise to go up against Heavenly Father in this particular category. So, I need to strive to become more humble and more teachable.


Temporal
1. Build my savings account. I have already started this. I have set a goal to put $20 into my savings account each paycheck. No, it's not a phenomenal amount of money, but the old adage is true: "Constant dripping hollows out the stone."

2. Be debt-free. And I mean completely. I make the final payment on my credit card this month. This up-coming week, in fact. I'm so excited about this. I plan to then use my credit card for purchases that I pay off immediately. Because I want to earn the points on my purchases. I just claimed my rewards from everything I've spent since I opened the card, and I am going to get 2 $25 gift cards to Best Buy. Where I will buy 2 more seasons of Scrubs. When they are on sale. And then maybe I can get more than just 2. Who knows. The point is, I want to take advantage of the points thing. I just need to make sure I stay disciplined and don't charge more than I can pay. And then I start paying off my student loan in massive chunks. It will be gone no later than December 2010, if all else remains equal. And actually, I can probably have it done by August. But, I want to leave myself room for the unexpected :). My life tends to be full of that...

3. 3 months of food/necessity storage. I had this goal last year. I failed. I need to do better and just "bite off" pieces I can manage. Maybe just look at it a paycheck at a time and say, "What can I buy this paycheck that will help me reach this goal?" And then buy it.

4. Start gardening. No, I'm not going to attempt a massive undertaking of every fruit or vegetable I'd like to eventually be able to grow. That would be setting myself up for failure, and I know it. So this year, I'm going to try to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. I love cucumbers, and I can tolerate tomatoes. But we could also can the tomatoes for future use in soups, like the yummy garlic vegetable soup I love so much... So, that's what I'm going to try this year.


Physical
1. Walk. I started doing this last year and some weeks it was better than others. And then it really fizzled at the end when it got colder and got dark early. I need to try again. I liked walking with Heidi and visiting and chatting. And also with Sue.

2. Lose 20 pounds. Because that's how much I gained last year. Blech. I was so proud of myself for maintaining my weight loss in Tuscaloosa. I don't even know how I managed to do it, because I didn't actually try. So I want to return to that weight. I was happy with it.


Miscellaneous
These are just things I'd like to do this year. Whether they are things I want to obtain or things I want to do doesn't matter. They might not serve to make me or my life better, but they are wants, if you will :).

1. Trim apple tree for production. Okay, so we have an apple tree in the backyard. It's seen better days. It doesn't produce much, and what it does produce is pretty much useless. And that's because it needs pruning (and isn't this a lesson for life???). I am doubtful I would be able to get much of a crop out of it this upcoming summer, even if I did an awesome job pruning. But as I have no clue what I'm even doing, I'm just going to give up on the goal of actually getting production out of the tree and just cut it back because it needs to be cut back and pruned for aesthetic purposes and so it doesn't start smacking the house...

2. Get a laptop. And when I say this, I mean that I will pay cash for it. Or I will have the cash to immediately pay it off with. I have already budgeted it out as a line item in my budget :). But I may also use my tax return money for it. We shall see. Maybe I will feel motivated to start writing?

3. Accept that there are some things I cannot control. Perhaps this falls under humility above. I don't know. But sometimes it's not a matter of humility so much as disgust at things I feel are unjust. And sometimes I cannot control those things. And so, I have to let go. And not let it get to me.

4. Go at least one place (like a city or state) I've never been before. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.


So, those are pretty much my goals/hopes for 2010. I know that each and every day is a new day and a new chance to be better and to recommit (that looks like it's spelled wrong...) to improving myself. Last Sunday, one of the members of the high council bore his testimony and talked about setting goals and he suggested that perhaps Fast Sunday (the first Sunday of the month in the LDS church) would be a good time to set goals for the month. And that perhaps each Sunday would be a good time to set goals for the upcoming week. I think I want to implement that and see how it works for me. It seemed like a good idea and a way to make the big goals a little smaller, since you can take them a week at a time...

Well, that's all I've got for now. This post was mostly for Elka, since I told her I was thinking of updating tonight and she said, "Good!" :). Loveya Elka!

Oh and PS... I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and spent my $20 gift card. I bought Sixteen Candles on DVD, finally! It was only $9!!! I've never seen it really cheap, so this was a steal in my opinion. And I also bought Roxanne, which is another chick flick with Steve Martin. Cute.

And Elka -- you are way fast! I'd barely had this thing posted before you had left me 2 comments! And yes, I'm sure "more humble" is a scary thing to ask for. But maybe that's why I've been in "limbo." Maybe humility should have been my goal last year... ;).