Saturday, July 22, 2017

2017 Be More: An Update

Life has been flying by.  I suppose that means I have been having fun, right?  I can't say that I feel like I have been actively working on being more but when I sit down to write this update, I realize I am being more than I realized.

Be more giving.
I've started volunteering with the kid once a month.  Usually, I am nervous about volunteering.  It's a new place with new people and I don't know what the expectations are so I worry about not doing a good enough job.  After a few months, I decided that any help is better than no help and it's volunteer work so they can't fire me.  Now, instead of being nervous, I look forward to it.  When we are done, I feel a sense of being more - giving of myself, being an example to the kid, benefiting the local community and appreciating that the life I am living right now gives me the opportunity to do something to help others.  I want to volunteer more and am actually looking into something that takes me way out of my comfort zone.  We will see where that one leads in the next few months.  Stay tuned!

Be more well read (or other activity you enjoy).
I used to read a lot when I was younger (read: before college, when it was for fun and not for assignments) but as I got older, I had other things to do or would lose interest in what I was reading.  Over the last few months, I have read three books.  I realize this is a low number to some people but it's more than I have read over the past 5 years, easily.  Taking the time to actually read a book to completion is being more - more patient to finish the book and more disciplined to stop reading at a decent hour so I could wake up rested (this was another problem I had with reading - I couldn't put books down and go to sleep).  I am currently re-reading a book by Robert Fulghum, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."  I think the first time I read this book, I was in high school.  It's a grouping of short stories so I can read as many chapters as I like and put the book down at a decent hour.  This is probably the fourth time I am reading this book.  In all, I've read four of his books and will actively pursue reading the other ones out there that I haven't read yet.  I love physical books.  Reading on a screen just isn't the same for me and since I usually read before bed, I prefer not to stare at a lit screen before heading off to sleep.  Oh, and if you are curious to know what books I've read - they were, in order: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to be Read with the Lights on (Alfred Hitchcock), The Giver (Lois Lowry) and I'll Push You (Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck).

Be more inspiring.

I took to facebook a few months ago and posted positive or funny quotes for 30 days in a row.  Some people were concerned about my mental state while others were encouraged with me.  A few weeks later, people were asking me about posting more - they had started looking forward to what the day's thought or quote would be so I did another 30 day stint with even more positive, happy or quirky posts.  The quotes were intended to give me a positive start to each day (or evening if mornings didn't allow time for the post) and ended up being a piece of inspiration for anyone who happened to cross my posts.  I'm currently working on a different 30 day of posts and can't wait to share that with my facebook family!

That's where I've been.  How about you?  What have you been doing to be more?  Any suggested reads for a non-reader?  Share!

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