Goals: Let Your Life Soar

This post is a response of sorts to a post by Cathy titled "Let Your Life Soar." In this post, Cathy writes:
As you think over your life, what are the things you’ve done that you’re proud of? Aren’t you glad that you did them than if you held back and didn’t?

For the future, what are your dreams? What are your hopes? Don’t live with regrets…..go for what you want! Boats aren’t meant to stay tied up at the dock. They’re meant to sail. Your life isn’t meant to be stagnant, tied with fears. You’re meant to soar!

So, I must ask myself--What ARE my goals? I mean, I put goals up on my OH page, but are those really my LIFE goals? My goals over there include things like losing 200 pounds (done!) and riding rides at amusement parks with my kids... But, is that all that I aspire to do in the rest of my life? I mean, I am only 40, so that could be a LOT of years to come! LOL Time to do some deep thinking and decide what I really want out of the rest of my life, right?

I want to get back to teaching... I went to college, did my student teaching, and got my teaching degree back in the 90s. Then, we moved to another state which really threw a wrench in my plans to go right to work that next school year as a full-time teacher. Once we got settled, I began working as a substitute teacher as there were no openings here in my area of teaching certification. Then, little by little, my health began to deteriorate and I was less able to BE a teacher and stopped even doing the substitute gig... Now, thanks to my WLS and the changes that brought about, I've turned my health issues around and am able to teach again. SO, I took the classes I had to take to get my certification renewed and have received my renewed certificate to teach. Next step was a job application--done! Now, I'm waiting to hear about interviewing to go back on the list to substitute till I find a position open that I can apply for with my certification. It may take time as you sometimes have to wait for someone to retire from a position before you can find something. But, in the meanwhile, I can sub and at least be a part of the profession I trained for!

I want to take control of the clutter in my home and life. During the years when I couldn't teach, I was doing an internet retail thing from home. The "stock" for this business overtook my home. My hubby said it (still) looks more like a warehouse than a home. Now, with that part of my life seemingly behind me, I still have all this STUFF here! The business was supplying raw materials and packaging for folks who made soaps, lotions, and other body products. SO, there isn't a huge local interest in these items. I need to get a thorough inventory of what I still have on hand (ugh) and start eBaying the stuff to get it gone! At the same time, while I was sort of incapacitated by illness, the clutter of life took over most surfaces in my home. So, as if the business related stuff wasn't bad enough, there's lots of other clutter too. Little by little, I've been trying to tackle that aspect of it. One weekend, I cleaned out a closet and got rid of a bunch of crap. Then, I was able to clean another area of the house and properly store (in said closet) items that were cluttering the house. I've cleaned out drawers and put away clothes that were piled in the laundry room. I've gone through boxes and bags and drawers full of old receipts and such and determined what, exactly of that stuff needed kept for tax records or record of purchase for warranty reasons and then destroyed a major portion of the stuff. BIG bunch of paper garbage removed from my home! But, the biggest factor is still the remaining business inventory... I've made it sort of a challenge for hubby to identify things I've gotten done each time he's home. The bad part about that is that there is still so much to do that he rarely can tell what has already been done... Bummer!

I want a YARD! We have 10 acres here. Part of that is filled by the house, obviously, and part of it is used for farm animals. But, I have this huge grassy area that I mow--probably 3 acres. I have no flowers. I have no yard decorations. I have no fruit trees.... I want to start making a yard out there. I want something that people slow down to look at as they drive past. Landscaping was a BIG deal where I grew up in Florida. Around here, some folks think "landscaping" means getting rid of the junk car they took the motor out of two years ago and taking their collected aluminum cans to the recycling center for the cash rewards! I want to create an enjoyable place to sit and relax. Once I have a yard worth looking at, I want a porch swing on my front porch to sit, relax, and admire what I've created!

THEN, once the yard is under way--We have this awesome porch that goes all the way around the house with the roof of the house going all the way out over the porch (it was built that way to begin with rather than being added on later). Including the porch, the house is 64 feet long and 42 feet wide and the porch is the outer 8 feet of that all the way around the house. What do we use that porch for? Storing more junk! And, yes, some of it IS from my business! LOL Some of it is tools and such of hubby's. There are bikes and weight lifting stuff... There's yard tools and such (that should be in a storage building). But, we don't ever just sit on the porch and enjoy having it! I want to do that!

I'm about to be a grandma for the first time this coming July. I want to be able to spend time with that grandbaby and be a real part of his life (supposed to be a HE anyway!). My own mother could never be bothered to spend time with her grandbabies. She did NOT babysit. She didn't dote. She rarely ever wanted to even spend time around them and she has TEN grandkids who now age from 7 to 19. She spent those last 19 years being single and doing her own thing. I don't really even see signs that she regrets not really getting to KNOW her grandkids... My own girls have no other grandparents. Hubby's folks passed away. My parents divorced when my girls were still very little and my Dad passed away in 1995. Our (mine and hubby's) grandparents were all deceased already... So, my Mom was it for my girls in the grandparent category and she has only been the sort of grandma who buys you stuff for your birthday and Christmas, not the sort whose house you want to be at all the time 'cause you just love to spend time with them! I want to be THAT grandma--the one who does stuff with you and makes sure you know how much you mean to them... And I want it to be ALL year long, for all their life, not just on holidays and birthdays or at high school graduation...know what I mean?

What else? Well, I want to pay for our home and get out of debt a bit... I want to have a retirement fund. I want to travel a bit. I've never had a real vacation. We never had a honeymoon. I've never been on a cruise or been out of the country. All of these things rely on funding... So, that brings me back to getting back into teaching! I've come full circle here! So, that is my number one goal and where I'll be putting all my energy!