Community Voices: How I Check In on My Goals and Practice Intentional Living

It’s crazy to even think about the fact that we are already in the month of September. I truly have no clue where time has gone this year! Writing my goals & intentions December 31, 2020 seems like yesterday but also feels like ages ago. I have no understanding of time anymore—anyone else feel me on that? 

Anyways, I thought I’d share where I’m at with said goals & intentions & also share my hopes for the rest of 2021. When writing it all out last year, I split my goals into 3 categories— life, work, & personal. I felt like that was a good way to see all aspects of my life & what I want it to be, simplified & on paper, so that I could write goals for myself that 1) truly mattered to me & 2) were realistic for myself.  

Life goals included reading more, listening to more meaningful content like podcasts on topics I care about to become more knowledgeable to help others, becoming a better cook, & helping my community. I haven’t read as much as I would’ve liked, but I have gotten a few books checked off my list & I have a couple more I’d really like to finish before the year is up! I definitely have curated a great list of podcasts that I listen to weekly & will continue to do so as I’ve learned so much already. My favorite topic is health & wellness & everything under that umbrella of a topic. 

  I have truly mastered 2 of my favorite recipes from growing up & I am so excited about that, but now I want to venture into new recipes I’ve never tried.  

After losing my kitten for 8 days (he is now home safe & sound) I have continued to volunteer to help others find their lost pets. I have always loved animals & losing my kitten was an awful feeling so I am happy to be a part of the search to help others reunite with their beloved pets. I really want to do more volunteer work for the many animals currently in shelters waiting for forever homes.  

Career goals included opening myself up to more opportunities & trying to find a good work/life balance. I’ve since then been offered an opportunity to assist another department in my company & with that opportunity has allowed me to learn so much about how our product information is entered & used throughout one of our main databases, all while being able to do so from home. That opportunity has given me a balance with work & home life that I’ve never had before & for that I am truly grateful. 

For personal goals, these are different from life because these are things I wanted to work on for my inner peace & happiness within myself. My life goals were to show up as a better person for others, while my personal goals were to show up for myself. Practicing mindfulness & loving myself were 2 big ones for me. To be honest, these take work daily & will not have a check mark in the box come December 31, 2021. I will be forever working on these & some days will be easier than others, but something that has helped me is to look for meaning where I am. I may not like the situation I’m in at times or when I fall into the deep abyss that is comparison of others, I have to remember that this life is a journey & it was meant for me. The difficult times always have a lesson attached to them. My faith & my belief that it will always work out in the end is what gets me through. The way it was supposed to be & the way I hoped it would be might not always line up, but we grow through what we go through. Looking back on all those moments of hopelessness that I’ve made it through so far, I can now see why certain things didn’t work out the way I thought or hoped they would, but that’s because something better came out of the situation. Sometimes we find our passions through these painful times. It’s not always easy to remain grounded & mindful & to love myself or stay positive about a negative situation, but I promise when you work at these things daily— your strength to carry on really shines through. Happy autumn season y’all. Cheers to the rest of 2021 & may it bring you love & light.