Newness for a New Year

Thursday, September 27, 2007

When I grow up, I want to be a (fill in the blank) kind of person

There are so many times in my life that I think, I hope to be a (insert something like community volunteer) kind of person some day. I wonder when I think that day will begin that I will just change my life to become the person I want to become. So, I've decided in small ways to start becoming some of what I want to be.

1. The person who takes the bus. I have had a bus pass for over a year, but I didn't use it as regularly as I wanted to. I thought, I want to be the kind of person who plans ahead to take the bus. Now, day by day I am. I think all this hope of becoming depends on the day to day. And if you miss a day, start again the next day. I often get so overwhelmed by thinking about all I want to do and become that I settle into my mediocre routine of letting my discouragement shape who I become. I have already had some great "bus stories," but that will be an entire post of its own.

2. The person who does yoga everyday. I have also been doing yoga everyday. I love it. I am incorporating into into my daily life, in addition to other types of exercise. I am thinking of it not only as exercise but also as relief for my soul and body. I have practices yoga for a couple of years now, although it has been sporadic, especially as of late.

3. The person who always takes the stairs. I am usually good at taking stairs when I am out and about, but for some reason I excused myself from taking them up to my office on the top floor of my building. Sure, it would be so much easier to take the elevator, especially at the end of the day with all my books and papers from class, but hey, I want to be one of those people who take the stairs at work.

4. The person who responds quickly to email. Even though I teach my students to respond quickly, sometimes I am just no good at this. Now, I spend the few minutes each day to respond to emails, and then the whole process isn't overwhelming. I also started this blog to help with keeping my friends in on what is happening in my life. It is nice to refer people to my blog about my life without retyping the same info (or copy/pasting it) quite so much.

The nice thing about all these things is that I am choosing to do them. I realize that the application of this will be different for everyone, since we all have different time restraints and we are all in different circumstances, but the nice thing is that when we keep trying to do certain things we change our lives and routines so that we can then focus on changing more things. So, I am taking it one step at a time, up all five flights of stairs. It is refreshing to take hold of becoming who I want to be instead of letting indecision dictate who I become.

2 comments:

Alisa said...

"When I grow up, I want to be a nurturing kind of person". I was thinking of this because whether you are married, single, old, young, or what ever you can nurture others.
To me this means that you listen. Truly listen. You care and are concerned about others. You give support and encouragment. You are mindful of others needs and try to meat them. You are compassionate and gentle. And so much more.
I think this is the type of person I want to be because without these qualities whatever else I may do doesn't mean very much.
Now this doesn't mean I don't try to cultivate my talents, do my part to help the enviroment, or improve myself both physically and intellectually. It just means that I can appreciate all these other things more when I try to be a nurturing person.

Thomas said...

I really enjoyed this post, only because I think many of us do the same thing. I may see someone exhibit some quality that I feel I lack, or I may come to a realization about something after reflection and introspection. Anyway, the lesson I have learned is that it's never too late to become a better person.