Monday, March 4, 2013

dream big

Yesterday, Chris and I were such goofballs. For probably 40 minutes, I threw cereal for Chris to catch in his mouth from greater and greater distances. (I'm avoiding bad puns about him being a great catch. You're welcome.) The limiting factor ended up being the size of the room -- not our skills. We giggled and cheered each other on and just played. I love having a husband who can be tremendously silly with me.

In contrast, we also spent a few hours listening to an audiobook, all about streamlining your life (via careful goal-setting, organization, focus, etc.) so that you can have more time to do what you really want to be doing. We love this book's funny examples, but yesterday it was the practical advice that really engaged us. Chris sat down and set goals, which functioned as guiding principles as he checked that his day-to-day actions aligned with them. By the end of it, he was a little stunned by how empowered he was now -- and how much more accountable that made him.

He might have been a little overwhelmed, but I'm still beaming with pride. I loved helping him identify his strengths and talk about ways to use them that would truly make him happy. I loved watching him commit to how he's spending his time, meanwhile acquiring paradigm shifts and new dreams. Truth be told, I need to sit down and do the same thing, but I love that my husband is such an example to me of vision and courage. I hope to be brave like my husband as I figure out what to do now that I have received my rejection letter from Purdue. Like him, I want to dream -- sincerely and big.

3 comments:

  1. Sorry about the rejection! :( Mahon and I have weekly goal-setting sessions on Sundays. We both list our week's goals and then come together in the evening and talk about how we did on the previous week and what we plan to do the next week. It's really helpful, and I think will be a great thing for our kids to grow up doing, too.

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  2. Thanks. It was actually really funny when I got it -- just kind of "oh," and then forwarded it to Chris and continued about my day. It's my unconcern, not my rejection, that is giving me pause. It's got me thinking about what I really want to be doing. No conclusions yet, of course, other than that the options are WIDE OPEN. So I will just keep praying, and mulling it over, and we will see!

    We have a new goal every month, and I agree, those regular sessions of talking about them -- what worked and what didn't, as well as what we're going to do in the next month -- are so nice! That reminds me: we're due for our March goals! Oops. ;)

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  3. Seth and I do something similar, too. At night before bed, we talk about our day and what we want to do differently, and then talk about things we want to accomplish soon. This month, I'm learning at least one hundred words in ASL and he is finding a job he likes better and learning to be more assertive. :) It's fun.

    I got a feeling by talking to you that going to Purdue for your Masters wasn't something you were absolutely PASSIONATE about, which is probably why you were kinda unconcerned. When you find that thing you're passionate about, you'll know it.

    P.S. I love that when my husband is on the phone and waiting for a representative, he idly does dishes...

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