One of the reasons I've not been writing much here is that I've been unable to figure out what this blog was supposed to be about. The topics I have covered, sporadically, have been all over the map. I've needed a focus.
This week the focus came to me. To be accurate two foci (yes, that's the plural of "focus": I just looked it up) have come to me and I figure that each night if one of the foci didn't do it for me, then perhaps the other would. The blog will still be somewhat sporadic, but at least there will be some rhyme or reason for including one topic instead of another.
So here are the two foci I've thought of:
(1) I use this blog as a means of setting goals and sticking to them. If I've written here that I'm going to do such and such a thing or things, and then fail to do it, or them, well, it makes me look (to whatever theoretical reader may be out there browsing the net--or maybe you know me and you're checkin' up on me or just chillin' and surfin' and you figure, what the hey, why not see what Ted wrote in his blog today) somewhat weak-willed. And who needs that? In short, in some vague, mild way, the first aforementioned focus, to wit, posting goals (whether large or small) could provide me some teensy weensy sense of (to coin a term) accountability.
(2) I use this blog to write "Three Good Things That Happened Today." Actually, this focus is an idea I'm blatantly stealing from another blogger I ran across who does this every day and has gained something of a following. (She's a waitress, by the way, and sometimes writes the most mundane "good things" imaginable.) The reason for my doing this, hopefully, will be to stop being so negative (to coin another term) and to identify at least a few of the good things that impinge upon my life daily which I barely seem to acknowledge, much less pause to give thanks for. (By the way, the other morning I was in the most abominable mood as I approached the door at work and thought, "I'm not going to be able to make it through this day if I don't change my mood." My job involves interacting with the public and other employees on a regular basis and being in a foul mood makes having to act all smiley an excruciating exercise. So, on the spot, I began, mechanically, to think of some things that were good in my life right then, at that moment. I started with the weather--it was stunning and gorgeous, the sort of weather we whiney Torontonians supposedly pine for all through the year--and then just thought of the fact that I still was employed in a job that was actually pretty decent, working with some pretty decent people. And I started genuinely to say to God, "Thank you," about those two things, and maybe some others I can't think of, and lo and behold, I started to feel differently. Who'd a thunk it?)
Well, by rights I actually should tell you just a few of the goals I'm currently working on. (To clarify, in this blog I'll be telling you my goals and then telling you, fairly regularly, how I'm doin' on them.) As I sit here I'm looking at a piece of paper, dated July 3, where I wrote them down. Here they are:
(1) Reduce my consumption of caffeinated coffee by a quarter cup a day until I'm down to zero. This is important because when I'm drinking too much caffeine it affects my moods, my sleep, and, well, uh, the number of visits I make to the little boys' room, occasionally, in a given hour. (There are complex reasons for this related to my age and the male anatomy which I will not get into here...) When I made this resolution I was chuggin' five cups of caffeinated brew daily. Now, basically, I'm down to around four and a quarter. So, more or less, it's working. (Give me a B on that one.)
(2) Lose a pound a week. To make this happen I know what I have to do. I know the kinds of food to eat at home, the kind of lunches I need to take with me to work, and so forth. I'm able to feel quite satiated and full and still lose weight, provided I've been a Good Boy. I have to decide in advance, with the help of God, not to cheat. So let's see how I've been doing since July 3. I weigh myself every morning then write it down, so this should be easy to calculate. My average weight for the week preceding July 3 was exactly 210. Averaging my weight for the past four days it comes to...209.4! I'll take it. (Grade: A-.)
(3) Have a half hour of reading, meditation, and prayer before leaving for work each morning. Since I wrote down that goal what I've actually been doing is reading a book by Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Sermon on the Mount while I eat my breakfast. Then I mull it over and maybe pray while I'm doing other things (at a rather leisurely pace since I still get up pretty early) before heading out. Essentially this has been working. It's been better than nothing and I think I would give myself a "C" on this one. The spirit of the goal would be that I might be living prayerfully throughout the day, "practicing the presence of God," and I think I have been doing that more, though to what extent that is due to that morning "quiet time" is hard to say.
Well, I'll end at this point. Gotta run!
This week the focus came to me. To be accurate two foci (yes, that's the plural of "focus": I just looked it up) have come to me and I figure that each night if one of the foci didn't do it for me, then perhaps the other would. The blog will still be somewhat sporadic, but at least there will be some rhyme or reason for including one topic instead of another.
So here are the two foci I've thought of:
(1) I use this blog as a means of setting goals and sticking to them. If I've written here that I'm going to do such and such a thing or things, and then fail to do it, or them, well, it makes me look (to whatever theoretical reader may be out there browsing the net--or maybe you know me and you're checkin' up on me or just chillin' and surfin' and you figure, what the hey, why not see what Ted wrote in his blog today) somewhat weak-willed. And who needs that? In short, in some vague, mild way, the first aforementioned focus, to wit, posting goals (whether large or small) could provide me some teensy weensy sense of (to coin a term) accountability.
(2) I use this blog to write "Three Good Things That Happened Today." Actually, this focus is an idea I'm blatantly stealing from another blogger I ran across who does this every day and has gained something of a following. (She's a waitress, by the way, and sometimes writes the most mundane "good things" imaginable.) The reason for my doing this, hopefully, will be to stop being so negative (to coin another term) and to identify at least a few of the good things that impinge upon my life daily which I barely seem to acknowledge, much less pause to give thanks for. (By the way, the other morning I was in the most abominable mood as I approached the door at work and thought, "I'm not going to be able to make it through this day if I don't change my mood." My job involves interacting with the public and other employees on a regular basis and being in a foul mood makes having to act all smiley an excruciating exercise. So, on the spot, I began, mechanically, to think of some things that were good in my life right then, at that moment. I started with the weather--it was stunning and gorgeous, the sort of weather we whiney Torontonians supposedly pine for all through the year--and then just thought of the fact that I still was employed in a job that was actually pretty decent, working with some pretty decent people. And I started genuinely to say to God, "Thank you," about those two things, and maybe some others I can't think of, and lo and behold, I started to feel differently. Who'd a thunk it?)
Well, by rights I actually should tell you just a few of the goals I'm currently working on. (To clarify, in this blog I'll be telling you my goals and then telling you, fairly regularly, how I'm doin' on them.) As I sit here I'm looking at a piece of paper, dated July 3, where I wrote them down. Here they are:
(1) Reduce my consumption of caffeinated coffee by a quarter cup a day until I'm down to zero. This is important because when I'm drinking too much caffeine it affects my moods, my sleep, and, well, uh, the number of visits I make to the little boys' room, occasionally, in a given hour. (There are complex reasons for this related to my age and the male anatomy which I will not get into here...) When I made this resolution I was chuggin' five cups of caffeinated brew daily. Now, basically, I'm down to around four and a quarter. So, more or less, it's working. (Give me a B on that one.)
(2) Lose a pound a week. To make this happen I know what I have to do. I know the kinds of food to eat at home, the kind of lunches I need to take with me to work, and so forth. I'm able to feel quite satiated and full and still lose weight, provided I've been a Good Boy. I have to decide in advance, with the help of God, not to cheat. So let's see how I've been doing since July 3. I weigh myself every morning then write it down, so this should be easy to calculate. My average weight for the week preceding July 3 was exactly 210. Averaging my weight for the past four days it comes to...209.4! I'll take it. (Grade: A-.)
(3) Have a half hour of reading, meditation, and prayer before leaving for work each morning. Since I wrote down that goal what I've actually been doing is reading a book by Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Sermon on the Mount while I eat my breakfast. Then I mull it over and maybe pray while I'm doing other things (at a rather leisurely pace since I still get up pretty early) before heading out. Essentially this has been working. It's been better than nothing and I think I would give myself a "C" on this one. The spirit of the goal would be that I might be living prayerfully throughout the day, "practicing the presence of God," and I think I have been doing that more, though to what extent that is due to that morning "quiet time" is hard to say.
Well, I'll end at this point. Gotta run!
posted by Ted | 5:00 PM
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