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Friday, January 2, 2009

Flashback Friday: Life Goals Repost

So, today I'm doing a shorter-time-frame flashback. Back to one of the earlier posts of this blog. I thought this post would be fitting for a time when so many are making resolutions, planning out their year and looking ahead in their lives.

One of the best things I did a few years back was make a list of Life Goals for myself, and it pretty much has negated the need for resolutions since... so here it is again for you today:

Life Goals 
(originally post 6.23.2008)

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Quite a few years ago I was working at TeleProfessional Magazine. I really loved everything about it. I loved the administrative and organizational parts of it. I loved getting to do interviews and write articles. I really loved the proof-reading, which my brother Steve once told me makes me the oddest person he knows. But to me, it was like getting to play every day.

I had goals back then, about what I wanted to do professionally and how I wanted my life to turn out. I have a friend who has a special kind of date night with her husband so they can talk about finances and personal goals for their family. And I think that is good and necessary and responsible... something more couples should probably do. Goals are just a necessary part of moving forward in life.

The way to look at goals changed for me when my doctor first approached me about applying for disability. Maybe approached is the wrong word. I was sitting in a hospital bed (one of the three times I was in the hospital that year) with my laptop open, typing up dictation from an interview I had done so I could write an article. I'm sure you can imagine the look on her face as I'm hooked up to an IV of antibiotics and a Demerol drip... working was not what she had in mind for me to be doing. Recovery was more important at the time, but I was still in the mode of fighting to maintain a life that had already changed. My mind just hadn't caught up to the reality of it yet.

I would say Annie (my doctor) looked surprised, but I think disapproving was more the word for it. How in the world did I expect to get better and fight off an infection when I was expending all my energy working? That was happening in that hospital room, but it was the pattern my life had been following for awhile... I would get sick or be in a pain flare, just start getting better and then resume life as normal. And that normal would wear me down and start the cycle all over again. When I finally applied for and was approved for disability, I had to figure out what my goals in life were now going to be. And eventually I came up with this:

    Life Goals:

  1. To not be ashamed to stand before God.
  2. To fulfill God's plan by living the best life I can with what I am given.
  3. To be aware and present in every moment.
  4. To love what I have and not yearn for what I lack.
  5. To spread the Joy, not the fear.
  6. To be intentional in all things.

So far, I haven't had a situation come up in my life that hasn't been covered by these goals. It's how I want people to remember me, the impression I want to leave on people I meet. They are lofty goals. They're not easy to reach every day. But they are what I was left with when I took away the idea of having a career, having a family, having financial security or some sort of status in society. I think it's something I had to look at, but it's something I should have been looking at all along.

So, that's my story of figuring out who I want to be. And if you are thinking about who you are, where you are going and how you want to be remembered, I recommend starting with number six... being intentional with your life. After that, most everything starts to fall into place.

18 comments:

  1. wow. what a grounded and solid perspective you have. i love hearing your journey of how you got there. thank you for being real...

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  2. You are so young to have this already figured out. Yea God!

    It's been just in the past year that I've realized my role as a mom has changed dramatically.
    Since I've been a mom since I was 20 this really threw me for a loop.
    I'm looking at this time as an opportunity for more. I do long to leave a legacy, one of encouragement and joy...and hope.
    But I'm 47 and still foggy some days on what I want to be when I grow up...
    oh and now that I know you were a proof reader I need to issue an apology...for my bad grammer, mis-spellings...run on sentances...and careless use of dots... :)
    I'm amazed you come back to my blog! Thank you!!!
    love today~

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  3. I've loved this post since the first time I read it... and I've read it many times : ) I also observed it happens to line up right next to your be intentional button... hmmm, happy coincidence perhaps?

    What I especially admire is that instead of being led by illness and letting that define you, you DECIDED to live your life according to who you were going to be, regardless of disability. Thank you for setting a very powerful example for all of us!

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  4. Sara - as you so often do, you share your heart in a way that really makes us think about our own. thanks!

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  5. Wow! That is just breath-taking! You radiate the joy of Christ. What a precious example to everyone around you! Thank you!

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  6. Wow! That is just breath-taking! You radiate the joy of Christ. What a precious example to everyone around you! Thank you!

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  7. You're amazing, Sara. Wonderful post.

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  8. #6 - Yes this is something that I must try to do. I've been feeling sorry for myself as of late, so I need to go back and read, reread, and reread again... all your posts. Maybe sooner or later...your "spirit" sill rub off on me!
    Thank you for being Intentional In All Things!

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  9. I LOVE your list of goals. It shows what an awesome level minded person you are. Glad to see and know people like you. You're what gives this dingy old world a sparkle.

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  10. Thank you for sharing your list of goals and for being such a powerful example for each of us. Blessings. Susan

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  11. You can definitely check off 6 - spreading joy, which how I feel after reading your blog.

    When our lives change so do our goals, except the important ones, faith and showing kindness towards everyone we meet.

    You have all the important goals covered.

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  12. You know peeps, I'm just glad after I ramble you all are able to follow it and it means something to you. The fact that you all get it makes coming here every day both worth it and exciting.

    @Robin: I'm not proofing your blog; just absorbing all the fun and joy from it :)

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  13. "to love what i have and not yearn for what a lack"

    Love that!! Thank you.

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  14. I hope I can start with number six--in a good way. (This will mean undoing some of my bad habits)

    You are a deep thinker. I always love reading your posts. I don't think I've ever left your pages without gaining something. Thank you.

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  15. Thank you for your openness. You never fail to touch me.

    I've decided to go with the word BE.

    Your number 3. And some comments others have made around this during the last week.

    http://lady-to-the-knight.blogspot.com/2009/01/word-for-2009.html

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  16. The good and the bad...

    As I read your goals, I was moved and inspired. I realized that THOSE are the types of things I should resolve for my own life. And then I realized that as much as I know this to be true, I'm not yet at a place where I can really embrace those things over lose weight, floss every day, do this, do that, etc.

    Honesty hurts sometimes...

    Inspiration is still good. I'm going to come back to this often.

    On another, lighter note: I love proofreading, too. I guess that makes me odd...but I'm okay with that. :)

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  17. I used to love proofing, too (for the newspaper). I couldn't proof today without a crash refresher course. Sad. I know.

    I really like your goals. They are definitely worthy of attention. I have to say that you come across as a person who really lives them.

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