New Years Book Resolution Update

Well.. saying what books I was going to read for March seems to have been much premature.
I didn't get The Hoarder in You or Safe People read.

What I did get read in March was:
The AA Big Book (I'm involved in a 12 step group which is based on the principles developed by AA)
The Little Red Book

In April it was:
A Simple Path by Mother Teresa
Crazy Love by Frances Chan

It is only the beginning of May but I Intend to read:
He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado
and Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure

Absolute Lists

Absolute Yes List
1. Sleep
2. Personal Care
3. Diet
4. Devotions
5. Housework
6. Reading
7. Check and Keep Up Calendars

Absolute No List
1. Extra Sleep
2. Trash TV
3. Wandering Aimlessly
4. Spending Off-Budget
5. Revisiting the Past
6. Complaining About Being Tired
7. Giving Mickey Extra Treats

Lenten Promises

For Lent I'm tackling sleep:
*I'm starting my Before Bed Routine (BBR) at 11pm
*My sleep at 12am
*My day at 7:50am
*I'm watching Joyce Meyer at 8am in the morning
*I'm cutting off caffeine at 5pm.

Simultaneously I'm trying some things with food:
*3 meals, currently no snacks
*1 soda in the morning with morning meds
*2 GS cookies as a reward at the end of the week if I'm on target with my goals

For Devotions, I'm trying the following:
*In YouVersion.com Project 345 and Rick Warren's Daily
*Church's Reading Plan in Genesis and Proverbs

Housework, is going to be rough.
So rough I've thought about not posting it here, at least not right now.
Here goes:
*Laundry-Every Day
*Puppy Pads-Every Day
*Dishes-Every Day
*Bed-Every Day
*Bathroom-Weekly
*Filing-Daily until caught up then weekly

January Resolutions Revisited

So far I've done two books in a month. I didn't get Living Beyond Yourself done in January, but I have hopes to cover it sometime in the next two years.

The Art of Extreme Self Care by Cheryl Richardson (February)
Buried in Treasures by Gail Steketee (February)
Safe People (March)
The Hoarder in You (March)

The rest of the resolutions have pretty much gone by the wayside.

January Resolutions Post

I suppose it is that time of the year again when everyone thinks about where they are, what they are doing, and what their ideal self would look like. I've had my time in the past when I've written out long lists of things I wanted to see accomplished in the new year and, while illuminating, they always seemed so daunting. Usually I would pick 5 to 10, all in different areas and expect myself to remember them all and act on each individually. Last year I decided to just further my attempts at bettering myself with my current goals and didn't set separate resolutions.

This year I've decided on four resolutions in three areas, so far I'm managing to keep two of the four, but I feel more at peace and less fragmented or frantic and I don't feel overwhelmed. First, I decided to read one adult non-fiction book per month. (Adult vs Juvenile non-fiction, as I have ample occasions to read the latter as part of my library volunteer work). These books I decided to read once all the way through and then implement, in order, slowly. Second, I decided to make a meal plan for each month (completed) and to cook for myself from scratch once a week. I settled on Saturdays, since I'm usually home all day that day. And last, I decided to begin to exercise three times a week, which hasn't happened yet.

So far my most successful resolution has been to read one book per month:
Dec: Sink Reflections
Jan: Sidetracked Home Executives
Jan: Just 10 lbs
Jan: Living Beyond Yourself (current project)

I am implementing Sink Reflections currently. I am finishing a control journal minus the five zones and emergency numbers, and am getting used to doing a before bed routine.

A Desire to be Whole

I don't know if it shows a lot, but ever since high school I've made a practice of seeing things from as many different perspectives as possible. Most of the time this was a good thing. It let me sympathize with the problems of the popular people and empathize with other unpopular people, like myself.

However, every now and then this is not so good a feature to have. I began to feel fractured. On many issues I could count how and why maybe 3-5 people felt about it, but somehow I couldn't seem to gain a footing on how I felt about it. My own views seemed to dissolve into what other people think and I wouldn't be able to choose which view I most sympathized with.

Fast forward ahead to the last couple of weeks. Volunteering with some down-time, I began reading a book called Total Truth. In it she described a need for a Christian worldview, something that transcends the compartmentalization so common in our lives. I found myself drawn to the text and longing for something similar.

Mistakenly I began to call what I wanted "worldview." I was trying to explain what I was longing for in the same terms as what I was reading. I think I can identify what was so profound for me. I want to be a whole, one viewpoint, one perspective, to have a vision of who I am, what my goals are, and what makes me "me". I realize at 34 I am still trying to answer the question, "who do I want to be when I grown up?"

Book Shelves (GoodReads)

GoodReads.com for keeps track of what I want to read and where I am within books. I always seem to put the bookmark in the wrong section while I'm reading, if it doesn't fall out completely.



*Yoda voice* Sharing today I am, the currently-reading bookshelf in GoodReads.
Most of the books are on loan from the library although I do own an electronic copy of Its Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys and a regular copy of Life Makeovers. Library books keep my selections fresher since I feel more free to experiment without being burned on a selection, and occasionally save me from purchasing a book on recommendation that I simply don't care for.




I haven't read any of In Search of King Solomon's Mines, but I read a more recent work by Tahir Shah, The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I can't wait to crack open this older volume of his.

Theresa's current reading

Theresa's favorite books »