Line Upon Line

Accomplishing the larger goals of life starts with little goals. Excellence cannot come by the wave of a magic wand. There is no such thing. Limping bunnies lost their feet, Fields lose their four leaf clovers, time goes by ignoring starlight wishes all for naught. The idea of Lady Luck or magical influence, in truth, is empty. Lady Luck's true name is chance. But there is magic. It lies inside each of us. Work, determination, and perseverance determine change, just as the work, determination, and perseverance make a magician's handkerchief seemingly disappear into the palm of his hand. You don't see the hollow plastic thumb come off his finger and become replaced with the bright red cloth stuffed inside then set back into place on his own finger. Nor do we see the books studied, mentors worked with, and the trick practiced for a lengthy period of time beforehand to make it believable to an audience eye. A bright red handkerchief mysteriously vanishes in the palm of a hand. That's what we see. We are enchanted. The magician has accomplished excellence.

So where do we begin on this Day One journey to a three year goal for more focused living?

In the form of excellence, we have an example.

"And Jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour with God and man."

The greatest example in the way to live is taught in this simple scripture. For the happiest results, we need to live a balanced life. If I held a child's toy ball, and I divided it into four segments, from this scripture I could design a four square life.

And Jesus grew in wisdom mental

and in stature physical

and in favour with God spiritual

and man social

Think about it. We hold a sphere ball perfectly rounded, and balanced with air correctly shared. When we bounce this ball directly before us in a straight directed path, the result will be it will bounce directly back into our hands. But what if the air is a bit deflated in a sphere. When bounced, that ball will become misdirected, and go off in some unforeseen direction.

Life is that way. So here is my goal quadrant, and I'm going to start small.

Being a strong writer isn't just about sitting down and writing. It's a whole lot more than BIC or Butt In Chair. To be a writer is a solitary life. No one sits beside you and shares your head, and many things can come and disrupt that flow; sickness, life challenges, no one is immune.

One thing I know. If we do not take care of ourselves, we will not be able to take care of anyone or anything else, including our characters. My first goal toward excellence will be in the physical quadrant. Did I mention, I'm just plain not an athlete? PE was torture as a kid. I was the last picked for team sports led by peppy captains, never could climb that rope that stretched from the wood floor to the ceiling, and I loathed the ominous locker room. As an adult where gyms are concerned, I'd feel like everyone is watching and could not wait to leave.

In my forties, I know I have to take care of me. I realized this when, just before I started this blog, after a day of writing, I went to stand and it took effort to realign my skeleton. Standing straight was not pain free, and I was surprised how long it took for that pain to go away.

Sinking into a chair for a long period of time, is not healthy. So I traded my chair for the balancing ball I sit on as I write. No more back pain! It truly works as you're body shifts and moves about balancing as you write, and it's fun.

Exercise creates endorphines which makes you feel good. It gives us energy, which has influence on all aspects of our sphere. When we're happy we're social animals. When we think clearly we can expand our learning, when we work out our body automatically tells us what it needs in water, nutrition, etc, and when we are not depressed we are more in tune with the spirit.

So Day One--my focus is on the physical. My goal will be (as much as I really struggle with this.) I will go to the gym twice a week to work out, eventually making it three days a week. In my quest for more Excellence in Life, and I will record my progress here. (Oh my husband will so celebrate this.)

Time to get ready (sigh) to renew a membership and say hello to my old foe, squats.