Inward Focus

I will take any opportunity to learn and grow and one of the challenges that many people face this time of year is committing to those changes that we may have endeavored to make at the beginning of 2012 or at whatever point we deemed necessary. I, like the rest of us, often lose focus and grow weary of doing the things that I need to meet all of my goals. This year, one of my focal points is living out my word of the year, SHINE.

In the spirit of self renewal and sacrifice during the Lent season, I have decided to give these three things 'the boot':

1. Impersonality (noun): having no personal reference or connection

The Twittersphere and other social networks have limited my preferred interactions with human beings via face to face communication or even a phone call. I have become a slave of sorts to Facebook status updates and Twitter posts, as ways to catch up with and engage with people that mean a lot to me and, frankly, it sucks. It is an incomplete story with no soundbites and simply does not give me the truest sense of community and connection that I cherish. I must do better to maintain the human relationships that I value.

2. Insecurity (noun): state of not being highly stable or well-adjusted: beset by fear and anxiety

It is so easy to lose one's foundation of confidence and assurance in one brief interaction or circumstance. I have learned that firsthand recently and I am determined to believe all that God says about me and not what my warped mind, at times, wants me to believe. 98% of the time I know that I am and I feel quite awesome, but those days that represent the 2% need to be no more. Lack of security gives birth to fear and anxiety which gives birth to none of my goals -- nada. I simply cannot be successful while insecure about my firm place in this world. I do not need anyone to affirm that. It simply is a known fact and is one of the keys to future accomplishments.

3. Instancy (noun): the quickness of action or occurrence

Everything in its time. Todo a su tiempo. I literally have ascribed this to be my new motto. I am the world's most impatient person and I am continually learning that slow and steady is not bad, in every way. Frenetic actions or reactions or demanding that of others is simply unnecessary and unproductive. The need to have everything RIGHT NOW can overtake your truest intentions to seek the best in your life and invest in your priorities correctly. Everything will align itself in its time and it may not be what we want to hear in our 'right now' culture, but it truly what I need to hear...until it sticks :-)

Time to keep shinin'

How are you all progressing on your 2012 goals/ focal points? Any new commitments made to yourself?