Dreams turned Accomplishments (Documenting the Journey)

I KNOW many different things.  I have great ideas about how things should go in life (read my other posts).  The downside to all of this wonderful knowledge is that it has STAYED knowledge.  I have not successfully applied it to my life.  Check out this post Consistent Consistency.  I have thoroughly outlined my dreams and the steps to follow to turn them into accomplishments.  Have I done them?  That would be a big fat NO!  I have not applied action to my dreams.  In April of this year, I was evidently painfully aware of my lack of action that I had to blog about it in Actions Speak Louder than Words.

I did finally begin to act in May.  I decided to get to my -100 pound party.  I was 15 pounds away.  I  I worked hard for two months and was three pounds away from my goal, when I hit a major obstacle.  I went on a trip and most of the hard work that I had accomplished vanished in one week, seven days, a fraction of what it took to get to my goal.  I was devastated and I haven't quite recovered.

Long story short, it is time for me to actually act upon the knowledge that is within me and that has been so eloquently expressed in this blog.

I have been thinking, and I have decided to log my progress.  I want to turn my dreams into goals and my goals into accomplishments.  

My current goals and my daily action steps are as follows:

1.  -100 pound party-deadline September 30th (15 pounds to go)

           -Track my food on Sparkpeople.com

           -Drink 64+ ounces of water

           -Exercise 10+ minutes daily

2. Read 1 book per week

           -Read 1-2 chapters

3. Practice Rosetta Stone Spanish for 1 to 2 hours per week

           -Practice for 15-20 minutes

4. Write my personal history for 30 minutes to 1 hour per week

           -Write for 10-15 minutes

I plan to post my progress, positive or negative, each day as I transform my dreams into accomplishments.

Today was not the best day toward my -100 party.  I hit the snooze twice and had no desire to exercise, so I took a shower instead and readied myself for work.  I did pick up my Herbalife order today at lunch and grabbed a shake and tea, so that was good.  After work, I ate an a apple and protein bar on the way home.  Dinner did me in.  I don't even want to talk about it.  As I ate a not so very healthy dinner, I decided to keep munching.  I definitely hit, grand-slammed, my calories for today.  I knew this, and therefore; I did not even log it in Spark.  I drank a measely 32 ounces of water from Sonic with Sunshine Berry (strawberries and lemons with peach flavoring).  Tomorrow I will definitely kick it in to high gear.  

As for reading, I have discovered audio CDs and am in love.  I listened to an entire book that would have taken me a week or month or even year to read in 3.5 hours in the car on my commute to and from work or whenever I happened to be in the car.  So technically, I have "read" a book this week.  I have started 2 books that are supposed to be finished by now.  I haven't read today, but I plan to after I publish this post.

I haven't practiced Spanish for several weeks, I will do so beginning tomorrow. The same goes for writing my personal history.

This is my time to act, and I plan to document my progress for grins and giggles and maybe just maybe to encourage someone else to go and make their own dreams come true.  

For God's Glory,

To Write or not to Write?

To write or not to write...that is the question.  I enjoy the written word.  I enjoy words themselves.  I enjoy reading books because they are made up of words.  I like to write or journal.  It is release for me.  What I have noticed recently is that what I write about is a bit repetitive and there is not much measured growth reflected.

My blog posts deal with some very real and very personal struggles and desires that I have.  The words that I type express the emotion in which they are written.  That can be good and bad.  The emotions in which I type right now is of a tinge of loneliness, disappointment in myself for investing time in a pointless romantic comedy, and avoidance of other more pressing priorities.

As I logged into my blog tonight, I was brought to a previous post, I'm Engaged!. This post reminded me that I am spoken for. I am the Beloved of Christ.  This is the best day ever, for that reminder.  I am already taken. The difficult part comes in the waiting process.  Yes, I am loved.  Yes, He is coming.  Yes, I will be His bride.  But I must be prepared.  What does a prepared bride look like?  A prepared bride is one that doesn't focus just on the wedding day, she focuses on the details of the marriage.  This one will be for an eternity, so I need to be prepared.

As I look over my writings, I realize that I have work to do, but I have no plan of action.  I have never been very good at follow through or application.  I am learning now that I need a plan with measurable goals and GO and do them.  I get too caught up in "planning" plans, and that is where I get stuck.

Back to my question...to write or not to write.  I am beginning to realize that my motive for writing and specific conversation is for my validation, and I put way too much value on the feedback I receive.  This can affect my view of my value.  As of right now, I have to sort out my motive and arrange several priorities to their proper status.  Until then, this will be the last post until I can strike that balance.