February Reflections

Well, I promised myself I would sit back monthly and reflect on what I had written and measure my progress against my own goals. I actually did a pretty good job. Broadly, I have added more structure and have continued to keep the "noise" in my life to a minimum. I am also funneling my time and energy into the things I care about rather than chasing pleasure of just staying distracted.

Writing keeps me grounded with myself as I look inward. It keeps my extroverted side in check. It moderates my tendency to drift aimlessly. It helps me get in touch with emotions I might ignore or overlook. It causes me to seriously consider the practical challenges to ideas I might have. It really forces me to reverse every innate tendency I have. I also

Areas to improve:

I laid out some goals (and some more here). Below are the ones I still need to address:



5) Mindfulness/Meditation/Gratitude

• I have done a better job, but could be more diligent here though - consider making it a morning ritual from now on - at least for 10 mins. I also need to read about Siddah Yoga). I will try to do this before I go to work in the morning. I will adjust my wake up time to make time for it starting Tuesday. I should also probably take a short walk in the mornings just to wake up a little beforehand so I am not tempted to fall back asleep. This will require an earlier bedtime. 

7) Better communication

• I have books on this now and have done some reading. I have actually used Chat Roulette for this purpose as well. It's an easy way to practice breaking the ice and keeping a conversation interesting while facing a very critical audience who has no repercussion for clicking next)

8) Engaging (and new) Hobbies

• Threw a lot more effort at photography, signed up to mentor at Epworth, joined a monthly poker game,  I still have time for something I could do every other week or so. A sports team would be fun. Need to do some more thinking)

9) Find problems in Columbia that I can work on. Find issues at work that can be improved.What divisive issues can I work on ameliorating to create more harmony?

• Made no progress here. However today I learned that the Charter for Compassion actually has city chapters. Could be something worth looking into. I did email a few UU's and Quakers to see if anyone would be interested in helping.

10) Plan a few trips. Find some odd communities or events within 100 miles to be a part of.

• Did not make any progress in this area. Need to spend some down time at work on this. Ask friends as well what they enjoy. Particularly those in neighboring states

12) Do more things/activities. I tend to spend my time "hanging out" or noodling around online. To make better use of my time I will need to do a little more planning and research (Free Times, meetup.com, FB events, Unigram, ect).

• Spent some time looking up events in FT, but I didn't use it very extensively. I should spend at least an hour a week reviewing these resources and finding things I would enjoy doing. 

13) Be more grateful.

• Need to do a lot more in this regard. I should find gratitude at least as often as I find something critical to say. It has been an incredibly powerful tool to completely flip the way I see certain issues in life.

13) Spend time identifying and developing my strengths

• Spent some effort on this, solicited advice from friends. Need to follow up over the next week or two. I can also spend some of my own time on this (maybe meditate on it). Ask mom? Relatives? Long-time close friends?

14) Make a personal mission statement and write out values.

• Did not make any progress here beyond my initial post. I should review tenants of different faiths (UU seven principles for instance) Ray Dalio's manifesto, service organizations (such as the rotary club), George Washingtons' rules of civility for ideas. This doesn't have to be a very fast process. I could try to find one life principle each month and continually compile them. I just need to seriously put effort into this. It is too important to just sort of assume it's all neatly organized in the back of my head. 

Gratitude:

• My parents celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary this week. While I know that their marriage has not been one characterized by effusive romantic displays, they deeply care about each other. While it wouldn't be the basis for any movie script, it's their own little fairy tale. They look after each other and really do love each other unconditionally (you have to with how grumpy my dad was in the past). As much as I might have wanted my parents to have a more chipper marriage, they have what matters most. An honest promise to love each other until "death do them part." That is all anyone can really ask for. It's a reminder that even if it doesn't work out like you imagine, it can all work out alright. 
• I have everything I need in life. A girl recently asked me "What would you buy if you had $1000 right now." I had to think about it for a while. I decided I would get a new oven to make my roommates happy, maybe a new camera, and to really indulge a plane ticket to an exotic location. Honestly, I don't care about any of those things. I am glad she asked. It's helped me to be more generous.
• Government services. I have really enjoyed the library lately. I went by on my lunch break Thursday and was able to just read for an hour. It's really nice. As much as I might want to criticize government, libraries are wonderful public service.