Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – End of Year Recap

Tags

2020, Achievements, Failures, family, Friends, Goals, New Year, Planning, Strategy

Here I am for one day to document my goals for 2019 and how it all panned out throughout the year. When I return finally on the 2nd of January 2020, I’ll post my 2020 goals. I wanted to get this out to you before New Year’s Eve as promised. So here we go!

Physical

1. Develop a life-long workout routine for home and gym
2. Reduce Weight to 200 lbs
3. Get to your Dental Appointments
4. Get Annual Physical
5. Chiropractor monthly to keep back and joints in order
6. Eye exam

Learning

1. Complete 12 courses online this year

Financial

1. Save 1200.00 by year’s end

Spiritual

1. Complete Book discussions
2. Participate on panel at Regional
3. Participate at HI retreat if invited
4. Kick off the Art of Spiritual Dreaming
5. Complete Light and Sound Discourse
6. Send in 12 Initiate reports
7. Spiritual exercises 20 minutes per day
8. Read Shariyat (My Bible) daily

Reading

1. Complete 48 books by year’s end

Writing

1. Finish Recruiting Book this year
2. Learn outlining for nonfiction books
3. Learn outlining for novel creating steps

Blogging

1. Build followers to 1000 by year’s end

Social

1. Stay in touch with family and friends

So everything that is in red is where I fell short of my yearly goals. Here’s what I learned.

Reduce Weight to 200 lbs – Missed

Losing weight is all about calorie deficit. You won’t lose weight if you do not decrease your intake. This is hard, no doubt about it, but I’ll be adding this again to my yearly goals for 2020. I’ve purchased a food tracker and will continue to strive to build a nutritious diet that is sustainable for the long-term. If any of you have followed my blog for this year, you know I gave the KETO diet a try. It didn’t work. I lost weight, but could not sustain the diet for the long term. Back to the drawing board.

Save 1200.00 by year’s end

Again, another tough one. You would think it was easy, but when you’re on a retirement income, it is not. I have morphed my budget in the last few months that should help me with this goal. This will also go back on my list for 2020. I plan on saving more than this, but this is the goal, since I couldn’t hit it this year.

Build followers to 1000 by year’s end

Another tough one. I thought I would make it, but have just recently breached the 650 mark for followers. This will be a goal of mine again, but this year will be more realistic. I’ll shoot for 800 by year’s end 2020. I’ve got some plans to change out some of my content for the upcoming year, sticking with the topics people enjoyed and leaving aside those topic areas where no one seemed to be too interested or where I wasn’t getting the traffic I wanted.

What I’m going to keep.

I had great success in the areas of book reading, classes taken and completed, and book writing. I also knocked it out of the park on my exercise, my spiritual areas, and my social areas. I haven’t finalized what my goal list will look like yet. I’ll be thinking about those things tomorrow and New Year’s Day.

I know a lot of people have given up on setting New Year’s resolutions, because they seem to fail or lose interest after a few months. I would urge you to set them anyway. Just don’t set too many. Shoot for one or two areas you’d like to improve this year and stick with them. Who cares if you miss the mark, the key is the process of trying to meet them. It really makes life very interesting. You will also make some progress. Relish that! That’s where you can become even more motivated. When you begin to see progress in an area you want to improve, you’ll be that much more driven to keep pushing!!

One thing I discovered is that my goals were not specific enough in some areas. I will reword them this year, so they are measurable. Tracking goals is really important. To properly track them, they have to be specific metrics. You’ll see this in my upcoming goal’s list.

Well, that’s it for today! I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season. I did. My brother and sister came out for the holidays and it was terrific! We had a great time as a family.

Happy New Year, readers! I hope all of you have a wonderful time at the parties you are going to or hosting. I also wish each of you great happiness, adventure, love, and an outstanding 2020! Remember: You can’t lose if you don’t quit!!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Family and Friends

Today will be the last day I post to this blog until the 30th of December when I will reveal my 2020 goals and show you the goals I set for 2019 and where I ended up. 2019 has been a great year, filled with learning, service, and growth.

My brother is coming to town tomorrow and I want to maximize the time I have with him while he’s here. We’ll also be going into full “holiday mode”, since we are only 6 days away from Christmas. He’ll be heading back to Arizona on the 29th.

During the holidays I always think about how lucky I am to have a family who cares for one another. I also enjoy knowing that although my friends are far away from me here in Michigan (most of them are in Arizona, California, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, and Nevada), that they are friends. If I show up in town, there’s always someone who wants to get a meal and have a nice chat to catch up on things. It’s nice to know this. It’s comforting.

When I get to the end of the year, I think about all the adventures and experiences the year has given me. It was a great year!

I’m going to cut this article short, because I want to get some other critical tasks completed before my brother comes home tomorrow. That being said, I wish all of you a Happy Holiday season, filled with love, joy, and good times. Thanks for following me this year and thanks for your comments. I really get a kick out of comments to my blog. It’s nice to hear from you. There are a few of you (you know who you are) that I’ve had some good interactions with. Thanks for letting me be a part of your life. It is a real privilege.

With that, I bid you adieu.

Merry Christmas from Dave at Daily Ramblings.

As always, until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Minding Our Own Gardens

Tags

Autonomy, Cause and Effect, Independence, Law of Non-Interference, Learning from mistakes, Problems, Solving Problems

Most of our problems are self-made. When things go wrong, if we take responsibility and do something that gives us greater understanding, life becomes easier.

This is how it should be, rather than having someone always giving us spiritual, emotional, or physical healings.

The idea is not to hide from life: It is to live life, but without making the same mistakes we did before.

—Harold Klemp
The Language of Soul

This is a great quote. This quote applies to all of us. What I would like to talk about today is staying out of other people’s way.

All of us run across challenges in our lives. How do we deal with them? We just do. Our solutions may not be the best solution to a problem, but we solve the problem. Sometimes we learn something; sometimes we are just glad to fix the problem and get a breather. It is nice when someone comes along and helps us solve a problem, but what do we learn? Do we go back to that person each time this particular problem arises? No, we would run out of benefactors quickly if this is what we did. Even our families would get sick of hearing about the same problem repeatedly. It’s nice to get a helping hand from time to time, but it doesn’t help us solve a problem and avoid it again in the future.

When we get hit with a problem, we gain much more by solving the problem ourselves and learning what caused the problem in the first place. When we learn what caused a problem, we know how to avoid it. Hence, the problem and its precursor are no longer capable of causing us problems. When other people pitch in and bail us out, we fail to learn as much as we could have.

If you see your child struggling with something, what’s your first response? Dive in and help right? Your child is happy that their frustration is ended, but what did they learn? Sometimes you need to help. The child may be having a problem with something that is way over their head. Think about the day your child learned how to tie their shoes. Wasn’t it terrific? It was probably painful to watch them struggle with it, but when they finally get it, it’s such a rewarding experience for them. They feel great and you get to pile on the accolades. What if you keep jumping in to help them? They never learn how to tie their shoes and you have to continue to help them. Not a great solution right?

This is what I am talking about. We always want to jump in, but we have to hold back. We have to let other people learn from their mistakes. They can’t learn from them if we always solve their problems. Just like your kid learning to tie her shoes, they’ll be dependent on you forever, unless they learn how to solve the problem for themselves.

It’s alright to pitch in if someone asks for help. They’re a friend or colleague and we want to help when asked. It’s another thing to stick our noses where they don’t belong. What Harold Klemp is talking about is the Law of Non-interference. This law dictates that we do not interfere with other people’s lives unless we are asked. We allow our friends and family to figure things out for themselves. At least we should.

The same thing follows for us. Ask for help when you need it, but give a real effort to solving your own problems, particularly the puzzle of how you caused the problem to begin with. Most of our problems have roots in our own actions and decisions. We cause them. Learn what caused the problem and you’ll know how to avoid it forever.

I hope each of you has a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Schedule

Tags

Brother, Christmas, December Schedule, family, Good Food, Holidays, vacation

Hey all! My brother is coming into town on December 20, 2019 to hang out with the family. I’ll be shutting down from the 20th – 29th while he’s here to maximize time with him. I’ll be back up on the 30th, just in time to provide you my end-of-year autopsy and put out my goals for 2020.

I’ll announce this again on the 19th, but wanted to give you a head’s up.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Are We Living in a Simulation?

Tags

Elon Musk, Science Fiction, Simulation?, Ted Talk, TedEd, The Matrix, Zohreh Davoudi

You’ll enjoy this one if you’re a fan of Elon Musk or the Matrix Trilogy like I am. Have a great Tuesday!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Mondays – Never Give Up

Tags

Always a Solution, Always an Answer, Always an Opportunity, End of Year Push, motivation, Persistence, Success

Never, never, never give up.

Winston Churchill

There is always a way. Wise words.

Too many give up on their dreams. They blame others. They stop searching for a solution when one is waiting for them around the next corner. Don’t be one of these people. You can find solutions to your problems. You can find ways to overcome obstacles. You can succeed when it is seemingly all lost.

We only have 15 days left. Try to knock out a little bit more. Take a few more steps. Finish the year strong!

Here’s my schedule for the week:

• Exercise daily
• Meditate daily
• Read daily
• Learn daily
• Code daily
• Finish my assigned tasks and to-dos daily

I know you’ve got family coming in. You’re decorating. You’re doing all of that last-minute shopping. Put a little time each day toward your most important goals. You can still get a lot done, despite the “extras” during the holidays.

If you don’t make it, fine. You have next year. Your goals aren’t missed unless you stop working toward them. Always keep moving forward.

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of December 15, 2019

Tags

Cardio, Exercise, healthy living, HIIT, Home Workout, Workout Routine

Here we are, getting closer and closer to Christmas. I can’t wait!!

This week we’re going to change it up again. I’m going to do 30 minutes of HIIT throughout each day using the steps on one of my stairways.

Stair steppers are tough, but they really get the blood flowing. All from the comfort of my home.

Monday – Saturday

• 30 Minutes HIIT at home

Sunday

• Yoga and Stretching for 30 minutes

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Challenges Week of Dec 15, 2019

Tags

Challenges, Change It Up, Do Something Different, Gifts, Music, Out of the Ordinary, Spread Your Wings

Here we are again!

This week’s challenges are more holiday related.

Challenge #1: Get a gift for someone you normally don’t buy one for (postman, dry cleaner, or a waiter/waitress that always serves you well.

Challenge #2: Listen to a new artist this week you’ve never listened to before. If you want to spread your wings further, listen to a genre of music you never listen to.

As always, leave a comment below if you complete one or both.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – A Soldier’s Christmas

Tags

Christmas, Gratitude, Holidays, Sacrifice, Separation, Service, Serving Abroad, Soldiers, Thanks

Too all my brothers and sisters serving during the holidays:

A Soldier’s Christmas

Submitted By: Happytoscrapitall

The Night Before Christmas

T’was the night before Christmas, he lived all alone in a one bedroom house, made of plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney with presents to give, and to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about, a strange sight I did see: no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by the mantle, just boots filled with sand; on the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kinds, a sober thought came through my mind.

For this house was different, it was dark and dreary. I found the home of a soldier, at once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping; silent, alone, curled up on the floor, in this one bedroom home. Not how I pictured a US soldier.

Was this the hero of whom I’d just read, curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed?

I realized the families that I saw this night, owed their lives to these soldiers who were willing to fight.

Soon ’round the world, the children would play and grownups would celebrate a bright Christmas Day.

They all enjoyed freedom, each month of the year, because of the soldiers like the one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone on a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye; I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice, “Santa, don’t cry. This life is my choice.

I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more; my life is my God, my country, my corps.”

The soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep; I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours, so silent and still, and we both shivered from the cold night’s chill.

I didn’t want to leave on that cold, dark night, this guardian of honor, so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over, with a voice soft and pure, whispered, “Carry on Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all is secure.”

One look at my watch and I knew he was right, “Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night.”

Author: A peace keeping soldier stationed overseas

Scrapbook.com I do not know who the original author of this is, but wanted to cite the website I found it on. If you, or someone knows who the original author is, please reply in the comments, I will edit this and replace it with the original copyright owner. I had to share this. It warms my heart every time I read it.

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Love is All You’ll Take With You

Tags

Attachment, family, Friends, God, ideology, Love, Material Things, Possessions, Unattachment

Quotes inspire most of my articles.

Every once in a while a picture will capture my interest. This one of a Lotus floating on water inspired me today. When I look at it, I see the flower floating on the calmness of an undisturbed pool of water. It is a vision of serenity.

I ask myself, how could life be like that? Calm, immune to the chaos surrounding us. Just floating along without a care in the world. I think this level of serenity comes from a place of detachment. Detachment is the opposite of attachment.

Attachment causes all kinds of problems. It causes us to argue with our loved ones when we are attached to a set of ideas and unwilling to listen to another side. “We’ll have none of that”, you say. You’re wrong and I’m right.

Attachment causes us to feel a sense of loss when we lose something we value (attached to). Think about the people that have taken their own life when they lose their finances.

Attachment causes us great pain when a loved one passes and even more pain when we realize that we will pass too.

Attachment is a hard one to get rid of. All of us are attached to something, whether we think we are or not. When you feel loss, you can bet that your attachment to that thing you lost is what is causing your suffering.

What if you could live a life of detachment? How would that look? It would be a life of service. You give all you have because you are unafraid of losing anything. It would be a life of charity. You would do all you could for someone without care for a reward or anything in return. When you are detached, you have all you need, because you don’t desire anything. You simply live in the moment, appreciative for the blessings you have received. If tomorrow brings loss, it rolls off of you, because there is no loss when you are unattached to things in your life.

Life is a series of changes. You gain friends and lose them. You get pets and you lose them. You have a job today and lose it tomorrow. You have your health today and it’s gone tomorrow. Everything in life changes. When you are attached to these things they are painful to lose. When you are unattached to these things, you wake up and say thanks for what you do have. Simple right? Not so much.

Whenever I am feeling down, sad, or upset, I look for the attachment in my life. It is normally the culprit behind my discomfort. Sometimes it is hard to let things go, but let them go you must, now or later.

Think about it. When you die, what are you taking with you? Exactly. Nothing but the love you carry in your heart. That’s all you take. All the toys, glittery bobbles, clothes, friends, family, pets, homes, jobs—everything.

Whenever I remember that all I’ll take is the love in my heart, I lose a little of my attachment. I keep this thought in my mind always. When you pass away, you will take none of the things you have right now but the love in your heart. Enjoy your toys, your friends, your loved ones while they’re here. Rejoice in the creature comforts you have right now. They are all blessings. Just remember, when they go away, thank God for the privilege of having them while you did and move on. You’ll enjoy life so much better when you preserve and build what you will take with you–the love in your heart.

Until next time…

Dave