Back at the beginning of 2022, I had created a few "Goals" for 2022. As I mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to make sure that I understood that it was not a New Years' Resolution. If I missed a day, I would pick myself back up and try again for the next day and the next day. If I missed a week, I would pick myself up and try again. I knew that if I had the right habits set in place then I would not have to worry much about missing any of the Goals that I had.
I also set individual challenges throughout each month. For example, in January I wanted to focus on drinking half my weight in ounces of water a day for at least a week. I did so, and in the middle of a flight trip as well. Because this monthly challenge was still in the making I did not have one specifically for this month. But, I was able to use it to get my head in the right space to start the year over again with familiar faces as well as new ones. It prepared me to be in the right headspace to tackle homework, as well as work and social life.
My word of the month is "conversations". I suddenly realized how important it is to be in conversations with those that I care about and how meaningful long conversations are with people that I would not normally talk to. Whenever I would have issues with people, which did not happen often, I would have conversations with them to use my voice and clear up any issues that we previously had. I discovered how important conversations were to relationships.
For February, with the accountability team of friends to help me, I pretty much went all month without the consumption of sugar. Of course, I gave myself some grace in the sense of items such as milk, bread, and condiments that are not mainly designed for their sugar content even though they exist. This was most challenging because it was the "Month of Love" and there was plenty of free candy and chocolate given away because I was a single college student, who obviously was not going to get it from anyone else. Some I turned down, some I just never accepted in the first place, and some I saved it for later. The closest I got to break this was that at the very end of the month I was trying a new peanut butter smoothie.
My word of the month I discovered was "Focus". I realized that I needed to look at where I was spending most of my mental energy. When I spent my time thinking, as I did a lot, what was I thinking about? What was I focusing my time on? I realized that I need to make sure that when I am going through a hard time I focus on God instead of on the problem itself.
For March I challenged myself to drink no coffee. I have not been addicted before, but I had consumed more than what I used to this semester. So, I challenged myself to go completely without. I was concerned about the meal punches that I could have used at the cafe. But, it all worked out in the long run.
There was not a specific word of the month that stood out to me. I had found that "Focus" was still a big word that appeared in conversation frequently. My biggest discovery was that gossip did really exist in my life, and that I was a big part of it. It was a problem in my life that I realized I needed to work on it.
For April, my challenge was to do some form of physical exercise at least once a day for 30 minutes giving myself a rest day on Sunday. Granted, this did not go as well as I had hoped because I had a few more "chill" physical days like taking walks instead of runs, but it was still good for me. I wished that I could have stayed more active, but I was surprised by how much activity I did get out when I had other friends who were willing to complete this monthly challenge with me, and thus we could work out and stay active together.
My word of this month was tied with my word of the year. I have been realizing that I need to think about the peace that I want to have, but I have realized that I can't have God's peace if I am not putting my full trust in Him. So, my word for April is "trust". I had seconds and minutes when I would waver from my full trust in God and I could feel my peace instantly go away. But, whenever I felt like I was giving it all up to God, I was able to feel true peace.
Currently, I am working on journalling on pen and paper every day this month. I have not missed a day, but this monthly challenge is special because it is something that I really want to do anyway. I love writing down my thoughts and experiences of the day. I am also big on making sure that I have read my Bible each day. But, I want to do more than just reading it to read it. I want to read it to learn from it, to understand it, and grow in my relationship with God.
So far for May, I think my word is still "trust" or maybe "time". My timing seems so unreasonable and unpredictable. I want to make sure that I am using my time in the best way possible, instead of wasting it on social media or spending my whole time with friends instead of finding a job. I need to be able to trust God's plan for my life, but it is difficult when I can't even understand what the next day or week is going to look like. I cannot experience true peace unless I give my full trust in God's plan for my life.
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