The Word Is: Wait.

Furniture is Overrated

When we first moved into our apartment, we figured it would be about a month before we moved the rest of our stuff over from storage. As I mentioned in a previous post, we’re using a couple camping chairs, sleeping bags, and a cooler as a coffee table.

Unfortunately, we had to use the money we saved up, to pay for car repairs. Then, we received a “house-warming” monetary gift that would cover moving expenses–Thank you!! Time-wise, moving didn’t work for another month. We enjoy camping….but our backs are starting to complain after sleeping on the floor for two months. So we were really looking forward to getting our stuff this weekend or the next! But. It’s not going to happen.

Something has blocked every effort we have made, every option we have considered. For some reason it feels like God doesn’t want us to get our stuff yet. It feels weird to write that thought out, for everyone to read. It doesn’t seem to make sense that God would care about post-poning our move date.

But for some reason he does. There’s just no other way to explain it.

I was disappointed at first. But realizing something about this has to do with God, makes me okay with it.

What do you do, or how do you feel when something seems unexplainably blocked in your life?

Goal Setting, Self-Discipline & Dreams

I mentioned in an earlier post that I rediscovered my joy of writing fiction. I am more than ready to jump right in!

There are two things I have heard over and over, when it comes to seriously attempting something:  Make your goals very specific, and write them down. So here I go…

I am attempting to finish and publish a novel. And there are four things I have implemented, or plan to:

• I contacted my former writing accountability partner. We plan to hold each other accountable for our use of time, and any specific goals. I am so excited! Getting feedback from another writer can be a ton of fun.
• I purchased Michael Hyatt‘s Get Published. This is information I have always wanted to get my hands on! I have mentioned before that we are doing Dave Ramsey‘s baby steps, so this material was purchased with money made from selling our mower.
• Once I am done training for my marathon, I will use that time to write. Marathon training has definitely upped my self-discipline ability!
• I plan to participate in NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month promotes quantity–50,000 words to be exact–over quality. But it will enable me to get the gist of my story out. I can go back to tweak and research later.

This is going to take a lot of self-discipline! But I figure, when’s a better time to start? Just this evening I told someone there are too many people who never pursue what they’re really passionate about…not enough time, not enough money, too many other things to do, or they spend too much time in front of the TV. If I have the chance to accomplish my dream, I’m going to go for it!

Of course, I haven’t given myself a specific deadline to have the first draft done… Maybe it should be January 1, 2013, considering I will be participating in NaNoWriMo. What do you think?

How have you used self-discipline to pursue your dreams, or to reach a goal?

What Will You Do?

There always have been and always will be obstacles and challenges in life. They surround us. It’s how we react to them that determines where and how far we go.

What’s your breaking point? At what point do you resign yourself to the “inevitable”? What has to happen for you to consider a goal in life not worth it anymore?

Too many people give up way too easily:  It’s too far to drive. I don’t want to give up my daily Starbucks for that financial goal. I don’t have time, I need to relax…in front of the TV. Still, there are fighters!

In fact, I saw a fighter tonight. She was running toward me. Usually I make eye contact with other runners and say “hey”, but she didn’t look my direction. That’s when I noticed she was missing a leg. In place of her leg was a prosthetic. Later, we passed again. This time I said, “Hey, you’re an inspiration!” She replied, “Thank you.”

How many people would have taken up running, without a leg? How many people would have even thought of the possibility? What about areas in our own lives? Things we have no control over…Things we may be missing….Things that make us different… Are we willing to think outside the box? Are we willing to commit the hard work? Are we willing to go a different route? Are we willing to push through the pain?

Are we willing to do what it takes to achieve dreams others label as impossible?

Do what you need to do to achieve your dreams!

Envy.

I am being tempted. With this thing called envy.

Typically, people envy tangibles:  house, car, boat, dog, spouse, kids, vacation, money, etc.

But I am being tempted to envy the intangibles.

I love where our lives are headed! But many things are “still in the works”. We’re still going through the process of figuring out how we’re going to live the next stage of our lives. Other than my job, not very many things have been solidified. We know what we are working toward, but we don’t know yet how things are going to work out, or even when. When I think about it too much, my mind begins to wander in the direction of envying others.

I’m faced with the temptation to envy intangibles:  time, timing, reaching goals, seeing dreams fulfilled, stability, having answers before the question is asked, knowing, having a plan. When I’m tempted it seems that everywhere I look, others have those intangibles within their grasp. But us. I know that’s not true for everyone…

My husband reminded me that even though others may have those intangibles, they do not necessarily live the life we desire. That adjusted my way of thinking. I realized I am willing to put up with the unknown, to keep the dreams we are enabling down the road.

Heading Into the Unknown

When is the last time you plunged into the unknown to reach a goal, or enable a dream?