Halloween~~~BOO :)

Hello,

Happy Halloween :)

Okay I know this is a Christmas picture but I was trying to see if I could get the program to work.

My plan is to start posting various pictures and using them as reflection pieces or memory places so that I can reflect on various happenings in my life. We'll see what comes up.

This picture was from a neighborhood not too far away that had the lights timed to music on the radio station that was just for their house. It was pretty fun and I went there with two friends and had a blast. I think we parked in front of the house for quite awhile...ho ho ho! OR should I say "BOO" :)

Mind Games

Lately I’ve been feeling down, and while there are good reasons for it (at least in my mind) I have found myself considering the various things that get me down and noticing that in some cases I tend to focus on the negative instead of counting my blessings with all the positives. For example, when I’ve been hurt by a friend, I tend to obsess over the fact that I’ve been hurt by a friend and not count how lucky I am to be blessed with so many other wonderful friends. I tend to not be able to overlook that slight or whatever it happens to be. Another example is when something should have been recognized and wasn’t I tended to focus on my hurt of that occurrence rather than all of the great people that did recognize something.

I know that I often have a problem with aligning heart and head when it comes to certain things. I know in my heart that “this or that” needs to be done or thought of in a way that is healthy, but for some reason I have a hard time changing my thought patterns on things. One part of me knows to “let it go” and another part resists for some reason.

So how does one change their thought patterns, while struggling to align heart and head? Any suggestions?

Prayer

Today I am reflecting on the power of prayer and sending lots of prayers to my cousin and her little baby who is sick. I am comforted that I have people to ask for prayers and that people will ask me to pray for them or their needs.

I have to believe in the power of prayer. There are countless examples of how prayer has helped and I know that even if it isn't answered in the way we wish it would be, that God is hearing every single word of our prayers, spoken and unspoken.

So I am including a prayer today for all who read this blog and all those who are in need of prayer for any reason.

Lord, keep our loved ones safe from harm. Show your mercy to all who believe in you and grant peace in the hearts of all who are struggling right now. Send your healing touch on all who are ill and grant that we may know how to bring comfort in your name. Comfort all who mourn and show us the way to you. Amen.

Career-Type Joys

In my ongoing effort to find out the answer to “What do I want?” I came to realize that I need to try and keep track of where it is that I find joy. I know there are different areas in my life that I want to focus on with regard to what I want, but as far as a career-type joy goes, I find I am always excited when I get an article published. Today I got published at http://www.newcriminologist.com/article.asp?nid=2175 New Criminologist. I totally enjoyed writing the article and got very positive feedback from the editor.
Another joy I noticed surrounding career-type joy is with the topic of the article I just got published. I really enjoyed learning about art crime and even found myself wishing for the chance to work in that type of field.
But we’ll see. I just want to try and keep track of where those various joys come into play. I will pay attention to where they are in other areas of my life and hopefully over time be the most well-rounded joyous person I can be!

Reflection on Quote

Insist on yourself. Never imitate. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote seems to be appropriate as I learn this year to reach for my goals. I know I've fallen into imitation at different times in my life. It's not hard to see where others have achieved success and want to follow in their footsteps. One can think, if they can do it that way then so could I. It doesn't always work out.

I watched the movie "The Women" last night and was interested by one of the questions posed to Meg Ryan's character of "What do you want?" In the movie she goes about figuring it out. So I pose this question to myself and say "What do I want?" Perhaps it will be to answer to Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote of insisting on myself and not imitating others.

So if I am to be myself and find what I want, it would be to find my voice, be it in writing or in performing music. I want to be me!

Goals for Year 33

I decided to try and put together some goals for what I want to accomplish this year and see if anything works out by the end of it.

One goal I've decided is to take the GRE exam. I've started looking at it and studying a bit but I don't know when I will take it--by the end of my 33rd year I will. But it may take me that long to relearn the math section. Ah, well. I've got to start somewhere.

The reason I set the goal of taking the GRE is because I know down the road I want to go to graduate school--perhaps even go so far as getting a doctorate! I'd like to get it in journalism and would also like to study criminology down the road. I find it fascinating and love writing articles about it. I'm hoping I could get a job at a paper or magazine for it. I know for the journalism degree I need to get more experience in the web world and publishing for the web, so I'm happy I'm getting a little experience now.

Another goal is to get published in a major publication. I've been lucky so far to be published in Omaha publications and New Criminologist which is a national publication. I'm going to send my resumes and clips to the major newspapers and magazines to see what happens.

This year I hope to make peace with people and things I haven't made peace with at this time and try to get to know more about my family. I realize that life is too short and I really want to know who the people are that surround me.

Well, this is just a start to my goals for this year. I hope I can at least get to a few!! Wish me luck!

Another Year

This is my first entry in my 33rd year of life. Wow. Time has flown by.