On Purpose: Episode Five

As an Amazon Affiliate, Reta Jayne earns from qualifying purchases with no additional cost to you. Learn more here.

Welcome to another week of “On Purpose.” If you're curious about the thought behind this series, click here for its introductory post.

I am detecting a theme here lately. . . I am falling short of my goals. On one hand, I want to be more strict with myself so that I actually accomplish these things. (That is the whole point of this, right?!) On the other hand, I want to celebrate the successes I have so that I am not so hard on myself that I stagnate & quit making any kind of progress. . . (I think this is also why I am getting this published quite a bit later in the day than usual!)

With all of that said, even though I counted it as a success, last week, for getting the laundry folded, the handsome husband went in for a nap as the post was scheduled & it never got done (because I was afraid of disturbing him). Since then, every time he wasn't in there, I wanted to spend the time with him — or I was exhausted & just wanted to go to sleep. Excuses, excuses, I know. What it boils down to is that I just didn't make it high enough of a priority, regardless of the obstacles. The “funny” thing about this is that when I finally get around to it, I suspect that it won't be as daunting of a task as I am making it out to be. . . We will see. . . (That task is getting put on the back burner for now while I figure it out.)

I did get a tote & a half emptied from the spare room, which mostly involved moving a bunch of books to the bookcase in our living room. It's a nice little dent on the junk in that room, so I am feeling quite motivated to continue, so that's good. 😉

I didn't make a physical list of school supplies, but I did give it sufficient thought, so I feel pretty prepared for classes to start next week. Definitely marking that one as a success!

And, lastly, it could be argued one of two ways in regard to my morning walks. . . I am choosing to call it “cutting myself some slack” because I have been having some pretty severe headaches lately & my uveitis has been acting up. (Not sure what uveitis is? Click here for the Wikipedia definition. . . But, basically, it is an inflammation of the eyeball. It causes blurred vision, light sensitivity, & other things. . . I am positive it is contributing to my headaches, which also leads to added tension in my neck & shoulders, for some reason.) SO, I finally filled a prescription for a super expensive eye drop that I was supposed to be using all this time, but stopped back towards the end of May when we miscarried & I was feeling all kinds of sorry for myself. . .

The other way to look at my morning walks is simply that I got lazy & used the eyeball as an excuse. I suppose reality lies somewhere in the middle. But, frankly, I just need to do better at taking care of myself, period. Now, I just need to figure out what that balance will be for me. . .

So, if you can't tell yet, I am feeling pretty defeated this week. It would be easier to just let it go, but I am bound & determined to maintain some consistency here — at least for my own sake (because, Lord knows no one reading this is all that invested in whether I succeed or fail!).

SO, this week, I am still setting my goals, but I am going to make sure they are goals that only require a small stretch to accomplish. . . The intent is to build up my confidence a bit & (hopefully) gain some momentum in regard to feeling purposeful. Here is what I plan to accomplish, on purpose this next week:

1. I will get the spare room cleared out so the handsome husband can get the bed set up in there. Even if I do not get everything into its new home this week, I will at least get it organized in the closets so that I can go through it at a leisurely pace in the not-so-distant future.
2. Now that I have everything I need, I will get my book bag organized for classes to start next week, so that I am not fumbling to open the package of pens or to find whatever it is that I need.
3. Even though I am back on the eye drops I am supposed to be using, I still need to make a decision about which ophthalmologist I want to see & make an appointment. These drops are usually prescribed to patients after eye surgery, so it is potent stuff! I need to be under the care of a physician to ensure that the pressure of my eye stays at an acceptable level — one thing I shouldn't mess around with is my eyesight, so I should probably figure it out & quit  being so stubborn about this one. . .

Now, it’s YOUR turn! Tell me what you need to be more purposeful about in your life this week. Share in the comments below, send me an email (mochamama@calculatedchaos.net), or connect on the Calculated Chaos Facebook page. If you’re a blogger, leave a link to your goal-related or purpose-filled post in the comments; I would love to come visit!

Have a purposeful week, y’all!

To read the next post in this series, click here.