Tag Archives: Goals

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Goals

I have this goal. I want to be a 150 average pin bowler. Last night, I crept toward it.

I bowled 170 in this first game and then had this hideous wrist twisting, side hitting game wherein it was 122. My final game was 147 only because I finished strong. Averaging 146 is flirting toward my goal, and I’ll take it.

Like everything, as soon as I get in my head, I can’t do very well.

That quality affects my climbing too.

The last topic to consider in this entry is that only one of our teammates wasn’t drinking at all. I am the only one of us four who completed a dry January. The thing is that it’s not a dry January for me. I just don’t drink anymore.

The main art museum here has a children’s friendly show, and I noticed driving home from work yesterday that it’s in its final weeks. I called my girlfriend so we can all three go together. I had planned it and it was going to slip away if I didn’t get tickets. We talked for half-an-hour last night.

Her ex-husband, who used to be my metamour, can’t wait until Saturday to have a drink. I told her that I’m looking forward to going to a beer garden on Lake Michigan that her best friend recommended to me in June. What’s been derivative for me having my last drink on December 30th is that alcohol is an easy substance to get dependent on.

I wouldn’t even really call my lack of drinking except once in a Blue Moon (That beer mostly sucks.) a goal. I’ve just had a change. And it was time. LA now has a gout flare up and is limping around.

Do you play sports? What are your sports goals as you age? Have you ever set a goal and it turns out differently than the one that you set?

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Half a Century

I spent my 20s establishing my career, my 30s coming out, my 40s getting financially stable, and wonder what my 50s will hold. I’m not sure.

I got off of a plane and had a private driver explain the boroughs of NYC to me after he offered to take me to my hotel. He told me some things that I could do which would be unique. After I checked in, I went walking.

After a huge serving of guacamole and two tacos, I heard the staff singing to a man and realized, “Wait, it’s after 2 in the morning, so it’s my birthday! I went over to his table and asked when his birthday was and it was actually the day before. I told him that mine was today. He wished me a happy birthday.

An hour later, the staff came out with a vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut topped with sprinkles. They sang to me, which I usually hate, but it made me happy. I told everyone at the restaurant that I was 50.

Did you know that Julia Child was an accomplished chef, but that her tv show which propelled her into fame was filmed when she was in her 50s? Judi Dench was a stage actress who’s appearance in “Goldeneye” made her famous. She made that film at 50. I hope to publish my book at 50.

I did things the next day that made me happy. I looked at art for 4-hours and walked everywhere. I went to a restaurant in Manhattan on the other side of Central Park, and I tried to eat broccoli rabe, but they didn’t have any, so I ate roasted carrots and calamari rings with homemade red sauce. When I did finally get back to where I was staying I read “Class,” and spoiler alert, this book is even better than “Maid” is.

NYC was a great place to reach 50. I’m glad that I made it happen. My other goals pertain to my book, reading for pleasure everyday, staying healthy and strong, working on my emotional landscape and being intentional with my time.

I try to ensure that I’m reading everyday because I want to publish my book this year. Right now, I’m looking for an illustrator. Batman is off-grid. I took her bio off of my website. I can’t wait around for her, so I’m contacting folks on Fiverr. I thought that I had a good connection with an artist in Spain, but now the messages are gone. I have to keep plugging away

Making it to half a century is a big deal. I want to stay in good physical condition and connect with people who I love. It’s important to me to continue things that are meaningful to me, and I know that I want to let go of many other habits thereby disrupting some behavior patterns.

I read an article to get ready to write this post. The author says that when women turn fifty that they have to see if the curtains that see match the patterns in themselves inwardly and outwardly. Looking inward is always a little difficult for me.

I struggle a bit making sense of my own emotions (inwardly) so I have to take lots of time to process. I wonder if it would be helpful to rate my emotion daily as a tracking? Outwardly, I’m in good physical shape–especially for my age and the fact that my body was in pieces 36-years ago. I think that my body matches my mindset. I am thinking about tracking where I am day to day with my sleep, activity, level and human connections that occur in real life.

I’ve done it. I am the last one in my family of origin and I’m half a century. I visited the coolest city in the world (I’ll have an entry upcoming.). I have been reading voraciously, I am contacting professional illustrators for my book, I am quite fit, I am committed to improving my emotional bandwidth, and I refuse to say yes to spending time with anyone who’s life I don’t enhance and vice versa.

What did you do when you turned 50?

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Fix

Parenting Update: My son came over for dinner last night and we talked. He is now obese and it’s so sad. I don’t want to fix him, but I want to support his health. He’s agreed to work out with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He can only do every other Tuesday, because he goes to his girlfriend’s parents’ house on Tuesday nights. I guess that is fine because I teach on Tuesday and then start teaching again on August 20th. I want him to increase his own positive self-talk too.

Spring Weather I walked the dogs this morning before my first evaluation meeting on Zoom and connected with a neighbor. The ducks were landing in the creek and the air was cold and humid. It was so nice. I see this neighbor most afternoons, and I was walking early this morning as I’m working from home, so I saw him. My older dog played with his adopted pit bull on their leashes. I also had a good talk with my next door neighbor about work in both of our houses and my spring solo vacation. It was so nice to be outside connecting.

Home I’m in a great space. I love having the fence fixed and will have everything paid off on Tuesday. I had already paid for all of the electrical work.

A company put in insultation in several walls and above my cabinets. Sadly, I can be so distrusting, so I’m going to check the attic before I write my review too. I know the old insultation was removed, and I hope that I have a ton up there alongside a barrier when I check it.

I didn’t accrue any interest on these things and am so glad for that. I feel lucky that I make enough money to do work in my house.

My Work I’ve been fixing myself too. I am working on kindness to all and neutrality in some instances. I feel physically fit and solid.

Lately, I’ve had new readers to my blog. I also have folks that have stopped by here for 12-years. I think that the advice that I could impart to readers is to take a spring assessment of what you’re doing and if those actions are creating what you want.

What are you working on this spring? Do you have anything that you know requires fortification? Is there a character trait which you’re addressing?