Tag: goals

All These Things (3): October Edition

Tina 1 Comment

Cliche, but let me say this: where did October go?

I realized today that the last time I blogged was when I released my book (ongoing blog tour this week, yay! Also, you can pre-order the print edition here if you’re not fond of ebooks :D), and a lot has happened from then until now that I should write about. I should, and I really want to, but work has been especially draining the past two weeks that I kinda just want to lie down and sleep when I get home.

That, and a lot of new things happened, like:

  • Last international trip for the year – Bangkok and Siem Reap! What a lovely, lovely vacation. I promise to blog about this one weekend this month. :)
  • My sister-in-law gave birth! I have a nephew! ♥ Most of my spare time goes to him (when he’s awake, anyway), so there. Isn’t he a cutie?
    apollorafael
  • Work. Oh wait, that’s not new.

October was a pretty fun month, though, and I’m not complaining. November, on the other hand, seems like it will be busy. Up until February. But…that’s not so new anyway. This kind of busy is good. :)

* * *

But look, it’s NOVEMBER. Last two months of the year! Last week, at our sisters’ household, the question was, What’s something you want to do (this year) that you haven’t done yet?

My short answer: cook a dish. I can bake fine, but I can’t cook. Or I just haven’t tried. Next goal: cook something for Christmas/New Year dinner.

Oh, but when I reviewed the goals I set for 2014, I realized that I have actually fulfilled most of them. Wow. And there’s still two months left! A lot can still happen. :)

My longer answer for that question, in one word: study. Let’s pray about this more.

* * *

To be perfectly honest, though, there’s a lot about the next two months that I feel a bit apprehensive about. Maybe it’s because I already saw a forecast of the first two months of 2015 for work, and the worrywart in me is glad there’s stuff to worry about again. Sigh, not good. But I don’t want to get lost in the busy-ness of the next two months. I don’t want to. I refuse to. Lord, give me the grace to take it slow and to breathe, and – in her words – count the thousand glittery things You’re giving me.

I felt God saying, “This is life, my girl. This is life. You don’t need to be somewhere. You don’t need to hustle. You don’t need to hurry. I just want you to suck this moment in good. You’ve come a long way. A long, long way. Be thankful and keep going. You’re so okay, my dear.”

That’s all God is asking of us at any given moment: To suck in what is what right before us– what He has placed there so intentionally– and then say thank you. Because it’s simple. And it’s true. And it’s a gift we forget to find the gratitude for. And it fills us so much more mightily than the fears and worries we stack inside ourselves when we think this day-to-day is about getting “stuff” done.

* * *

Yes, I’m also one of the many, many people caught up in the Taylor / 1989 mania. Couldn’t help it, really. Shake it Off helps in keeping me sane – shake off all the stress, I say!

Here, have an earworm. ;)

[youtube nfWlot6h_JM]

 

Half-Year

Tina 4 Comments

Also known as: A mid-year check point

Hello, July.

Look at that, we’re done with the first half of the year.

Image from we heart it

It didn’t hit me that it’s really already July until yesterday, when I (quietly) celebrated my fifth year at my current job. Other than being slightly bewildered that I have been with my current company for five years, I only truly felt that the year was half over and then…panic!

For all my claims of not being spontaneous and liking goals and control, there’s a part of me that seems like like winging it for certain things, particularly in some of my goals. Or maybe, winging it isn’t the right term. Perhaps going with the flow? Cruise mode?

Something like that.

But you know, growing up means you’re going to have to be accountable to yourself and setting check points and such if you want to accomplish certain goals. It’s not just cruising around, even if I feel totally lazy and going with the flow is way easier than you know, checking on yourself. Cruising along at my age is…well, kind of immature, don’t you think?

Okay then, let’s do this.

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Traveling Alone, and a Comeback

Tina 1 Comment

Also known as: A little send-off for a milestone

BUT FIRST! Thanks to everyone who sent messages, tweeted and shared my Valentine’s Day 2012 post. :)

It’s been a strange week, not only because of Valentine’s Day but because I had to battle fatigue with my sudden work schedule change and again, work stuff. It’s weeks like this that make me just so relieved and glad that it’s the weekend. I’m looking forward to this weekend more so than usual because it’s not a weekend spent at home or anywhere in the city, for that matter. Tomorrow, I fly to Bohol.

Dear Chocolate Hills, I hope to see you this weekend! (image from funtim.com)

But wait, there’s more! Tomorrow, I fly to Bohol alone.

I haven’t really traveled alone, so I’m a little bit apprehensive with the trip. But I figure that if I want to travel alone at one point in my life, I would have to do it sometime. And what better time than today tomorrow?

Like I said, I wasn’t really planning to go there, but circumstances had me deciding to go in a snap. Oh, it’s not that I will be in Bohol alone. I will just fly there alone and meet my SFC friends who have been there since early this week. I’m attending the SFC International Conference (ICon) in Bohol with them.

www.sfcicon.com

I’m considering this conference as a comeback of sorts. The last conference I attended for community was the YFC International Leaders’ Conference in Naga back in 2007. I joined SFC the year before too, and there were several times when I could have joined the SFC conferences (one time I even paid for my Metro Manila Conference registration but ended up not going), but I never did. It’s a part of me fading away from my community, I guess.

My attendance to this conference is actually a funny story, but maybe I’m write about it next time.

But since I did include going back to community in my 2012 goals, I have to make time for this. Even if it means spending a bit more than normal. Or traveling alone. Or not knowing what to expect.

But that’s good, right? I think God will surprise me in the next few days. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!