Freewrite - Summer Goals

Deck Reflections

Summer Goals that Start with the Letter S!

FOOD
1) Slimming - Not too much over but want to fit well in summer clothes
2) Stress Less - Do things that lower dopamine and serotonin that do not involve munching
3) Subtle Six (especially SHAME) - Immanuel Journal when these problem emotions arise

ATTITUDE/ACADEMIC
1) Scribe - Interactive Gratitude 3x/day for 5 minutes.
2) Seven to Six - Books left to the #6 spot on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List Challenge. 
3) Spiritual Books - Pandora Problem, Screwtape Letters, Immanuel Approach

COMMUNION
1) Sanctuary - spending my mornings with God in my deck sanctuary
2) Scripture prayer walk - Going back to praying through Face to Face and walking (also Lectio365 and Pray as You Go)
3) Slow Soul Care Sabbatical - Halting all spiritual direction for the whole month of July (except my supervision of spiritual directors because I am contracted to meet with them for two hours in July). Going hiking with the family in the North Cascades and Seattle friends. We also might do a cruise in July.

EXERCISE
1) Strengthening - Pilates best bet - a little arm weights
2) Stretching - Roll and stretch 1-2x daily
3) Stamina - 6.7 miles of the Corvallis to Sea (C2C) Trail left. All this hiking has raised my VO2MAX to the 40-year-old athlete range. WOOHOO!

DAILY CARE OF HOME and FAMILY
1) Snapshots - Sort through pictures back to the Fall of 2016 (when I went to work at the university)
2) Simplifying - Tossing from every closet and drawer (used to do this every August and have not in ages)
3) Sanctuary - Cooling and heating unit for deck, screen to close it in cold weather, a sign made by Ted or Kevin,

I wrote these all on my shower wall. I resurrected FACED with Katrina and Rachel, and I posted them on LoseIt! I cannot believe how much better I am with friends keeping me accountable in these areas:

F: Food

A: Attitude and/or Academic

C: Communion with God and Others

E: Exercise

D: Daily Care of Home and Family

I started a FACED group back in the 2000s, and these two were the most faithful. It was time for me to kick it back up because I was trying to keep my weight down, and it was not staying down. For the better part of ten years, it was great. You must constantly readjust because of the reduction in Basal Metabolic Rate as we age. I need 100 fewer calories a day than when I lost all my weight in 2013. So, this is the "10-years older correction" to this, and it is going well.  It really makes a difference to have others in the battle. 

I am doing really well all the way around. (I can hear a deer eating our apple tree. I sit on the deck most mornings now, and it has been so nice to hear all the goings on with the fauna around here!)

I am really happy that I went through the Bible Book Club. I was going to start reading through the Bible in three years starting in January, but I got carried away with the Reservoir Devotional (loved it). So, after I finished that on April 23, I decided to read through the Bible and listen to the Amplified Version audiobook. I followed along in the Bible Book Club, and it was SO ENCOURAGING to read through all my reflections from 10-15 years ago! Wow! There is a reason why God tells us to "remember" because it so bolstered my faith to read a record of God's faithfulness time and time again. I am sold on this life of faith! LOL! 

Update: I posted this at 7:09 am, and it is 7:41 am, and I read this in An Ignatian Book of Days: 

Memory has a fundamental role for the heart of a Jesuit: memory of grace, the memory mentioned in Deuteronomy, the memory of God's works that are the basis of the covenant between God and the people...

Seek the LORD and his strength
seek his presence continually
his miracles and the judgments he has uttered.
 Psalm 105:4-5 

Spend some extra time today reflecting on memories that you especially cherish. How do you see Christ in them? (p. 144) 

I looked at my calendar today, and there is nothing on it! How did that happen? I am shocked. Maybe we are supposed to go and hike that last 6.6 miles of the C2C. It was supposed to rain today, but it looks like it will not after all. :)

I am going back to some more time with God. As soon as it warms up a bit, I will go for a walk. But right now, I am enjoying my deck. The umbrella for our table comes today. So I am done decorating for now. Maybe another plant or two.