Focus

I got to have lunch with my friend Larry recently and we were talking about my blog.  I told Larry that several friends had expressed concern over what I had chosen to do over the next year, and when was I going to rest.  Others had worried that I needed to *not* have a list at all and instead just enjoy the year.  Larry said something so important in response.  He said when he had reviewed the list he found it to be more personal, more introspective.  Larry seemed to feel I was making more choices about slowing down than speeding it.  I really liked that idea, and when I looked back over my list, I found that to be true.

Then my friend Marcia looked at my list and she said she felt it reflected something more peaceful happening within myself, rather than "accomplishments." 

Marcia also remembered that my family makes a "Summer List" every year as the school year winds down.  It is so much fun to sit around and make the list, filled with all sorts of fun plans for how to spend our summer days.  It is exciting to read what the kids think is fun, and to mark off our adventures as the hot days fly by.  Marcia remarked that my 13x40 list is somewhat of a "summer list" of my very own - adventures I want to have - ways I want to feel more alive. 

I think knowing all this helps me work on 33.  Be Content.  It helps me to think the goals I am setting are more about ways I want to become a better person, rather than a ladder to climb and possibly fail, or something I *must* do.  I don't see it that way at all.  Larry and Marcia helped me focus what I was already feeling, and I want to keep those thoughts from Marcia and Larry at the forefront of my experience with my list and my year.

So, thank you so much to Larry and Marcia!