DAY 4: Envision Your Values in Action

Part 1: Am I Currently Living Out My Values?

I have rated myself between 1 -10 on how I feel I am acting each particular value I listed under Day 3 on my notebook. But I will write some down here. For instance, my faith gets a 6/10 because I need to work on my relationship with God. There are times I am so lazy to read my Bible, or say my rosary. And other times, I do not make out time to pray even for 2 minutes. So there is room for improvement.

For non-judgmental, I rated myself a 4 out of 10, because I fall into the category of judging others based on how they appear or how they treat me. I am not perfect and I am in no position to judge an individuals character if I have not had the time to assess my character. Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone is their mistake. So being non-judgmental will be a value that I'd like to act out in the upcoming new year.

And last but not least, achieving according to my own best was rated at a 6 out of 10. I am still comparing my achievement to other people's best. Oh My God! She is at Harvard earning a Masters degree and at 23, she has a good-paying job and a house.  But that is her own achievement according to her best. That is why this value is yet to gain a perfect score. If she got an A in an exam, that was according to effort she put into studying, asking the right questions in class, researching, not partying, not youtubing. If I get a B, well that is according to what I perceive as my own best, even though I did not party, or did not frequently use Youtube, studied, asked the right questions, and researched. No two heads are created equal.

The ratings of the other values were jotted down on my notebook for personal reasons.

Part 2: What Do My Values Look Like In Action?r

So three things I am currently doing or should be doing in acting out each of my values. For faith, I am currently working on attending mass each day, saying my rosary each day, and reading my Psalms.

For non-judgmental -I am learning to say something positive about the indivdual, think before I speak of or about the individual, ask them questions to get to know them more (this what I should be doing and will be doing in the nearest future)

For achieving according to my own best, I am working on managing my time, be disciplined, use other people's achievement as a source of motivation and inspiration and not jealousy.

A lot of improvement is required. Sometimes you do not know where you stand with yourself and with others, until you take the time to list things down and re-evaluate them before you can expect any positive change.

DAY 3: Reset Your Life Challenge

Today is actually day 4 of the reset challenge but because I have been studying for my upcoming exams, I have not had the time to update this blog or be on schedule in resetting my life. But I will try to manage my time. On day 2, we had to conduct a life assessment and by writing down with honesty how content we are with these areas of our lives. They are as follows:

• Lifestyle
• Work
• Education
• Finances
• Health
• Family
• Relationships

I was able to write down my level of happiness in these areas of my life. They are very personal and so I have decided not to write them down in the blog, but instead write it down on my notebook. So far, all I can say is that there is room for improvement. I do want to improve my lifestyle choices in the sense that I would like to be more adventurous. That is, do the things I would not have done otherwise. Take my dance lessons, occupy my time by helping people and so on.

I do not have a job at the moment, but I do bring in some kind of income through menial jobs. But this will change soon as this upcoming new year is the year that I'd to explore avenues that will make me happy and so bring some income into my pocket.

Finances could be better. Again it is tied to work. If I cannot work, then I do not have any finances to manage or improve but I am certainly working on it.

I am going to start going to the gym immediately as the new year shows its face. I will try yoga or perhaps pilates. A colleague of mine is taking a jazz dance class. And I have noticed significant improvements in her physical appearance. So I will keep that in mind.

Relationships are always a work in progress. No matter how well you think you know someone or you are there for someone, we always have to learn to improve on our communication skills and also be able to be self-less.

I have written down how I feel presently feel in these areas of my life and I hope that my level of honesty will lead me to further improve on the state of these areas.

DAY 3:

Identify your life values

Herewith are my life values:

• Faith-my relationship with God
• Patience/integrity/honesty/ humility
• Financial stability
• Loving/caring/accepting/tolerant/reliable
• Hopeful/ joyful/peaceful
• Family
• Healthy/loving/understanding/loyal/interesting relationships
• Helping the less fortunate
• Non-judgmental
• Achieve according to my best

31 Days to Reset Your Life Challenge

Personal Mantra:

Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action. Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them. Joyfulness keeps the heart and face young. A good laugh makes us better friends with ourselves and everybody around us - Orison Marden

Two days ago, I received a newsletter from happyblackwoman.com, asking me to join a challenge that would reset my life. I was like, are you kidding me? Reset my life? How? I was not willing, but something inside of me kept pushing me to join, to be part of something.

In the past two months, I have been going through a phase of confusion and laziness. Many times, I will revisit a blog or a youtube channel,  four to ten times a day because I did not know what to do with myself. I will wander around my little apartment, and fold and refold bedsheets, sweep and re-sweep floors, and stare at myself in the mirror, wondering "what if". Never mind that I had assignments to complete, and deadlines to meet, but I had no passion whatsoever. I was living but I was not alive. (*Note: This is a sign of depression, just lack of a vision and purpose)

This year has been particularly challenging for me. But I appreciate every little moment that has led me to where I am today. But today is the day that I have to decided to be ALIVE.

So I have written down goals on my blue moleskine notebook as to what I plan to achieve for the year 2011. Because 2011 is my year.

But before doing so, I will re-evaluate what I have accomplished in 2010 and what improvements I have to make so that I will not feel inadequate and lazy yet again.

Today, instead of bringing my laptop to watch kimmaytube or beautifulbrwnbabydol or blackonyx on youtube, I left it at home and decided that I was going to face my books. It is a little step but a big one for me.

Discipline is what I'd like to instill in my life beginning this day!

Tomorrow for sure will be better.