A New Me

You have exactly one life in which to do everything you'll ever do. Act accordingly.
- Colin Wright

I stumbled upon this quote amongst one of my Pinterest boards. It captured my attention and at that moment I felt compelled to reflect on it and now act on it.

I have one life. I have so many dreams and aspirations. So many things I want to be. Many of those would be best accomplished now before life includes more responsibilities.

I want to volunteer. I want to make a difference in a child's life. I want to become an active member of a church. I want to grow a stronger relationship with my faith. I want to live a balanced lifestyle.

I want to be the best person that I can be; however, I feel like I have all these ideas but don't act on them. Why have I not volunteered yet? Why have I not formed a greater relationship with my faith? What am I waiting for?

I made a list on Sunday of what I wanted to act on this week. There is an online community called "She Reads Truth". I've downloaded the app on my phone and will now receive daily Bible verses to reflect on privately and then engage with together on the online community. Right now there is a Soul Detox plan, and I am in desperate need of it. I feel relatively at peace with myself, but when my mind is quite I always find it drifting toward one issue that still needs to be resolved. I've been trying to handle it for too long on my own and have realized I need help from someone greater than myself.

Also on my list for the week was to commit to being a volunteer. A couple months ago I found a nonprofit, Communities in Schools, whose mission is to lower the dropout rate and increase on-time graduation rates. My local branch has a mentor program that will assign me to a student. I'll meet with them once a week during their lunch break. I am so excited for this. This nonprofit stands for everything that I've wanted to do in terms of making a difference in a child's life. I can't wait to be a part of it.

I'm so happy to have begun putting these goals/dreams/wishes into motion. It feels good to take control of who I wish to be as opposed to coaxing through the ins and outs of life. I do have a few smaller fun goals too. Justin proposed the idea of doing 30 day challenges each month instead of one daunting New Years resolution. We have so many ideas of how we want to improve ourselves and this way we can devote ourselves to one thing at a time. For example, this month our challenge is to workout every day for 30 days. It's a typical January resolution but it's been so much fun to plan workouts together. We come up with ideas of things we typically wouldn't do alone or together such as rock climbing, going for a walk, and taking a yoga class.

We have some other challenge ideas for the following months such as write a chapter in a novel, read a book every day, or eat a serving of vegetables every day. They're such fun ideas and I'm so excited to accomplish some together!

Overall, I'm looking forward to challenging myself to becoming the well-rounded person I've always wanted to be. I know that I'm capable of more than who I am today, and hope to never look back and wish I could have achieved more. Making a difference in a child, my faith, my relationships, and myself as a whole makes 2013 sound so exciting!