January 25, 2021
Music Meditation: Ancestral Home (R Carlos Nakai) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-RGBQicUns
Question: Where are you today? Is this where you want to be, or is there someplace else you’d rather be?
Answer: I’m going to answer this question, from both a personal and a professional perspective, since I think both are important. I’m also going to rate my self on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 = my life sucks the big one to 10 = it’s perfect. And I can guarantee you that it’s not a “1” or a “10” – so it’s going to be some number in between.
Personally – I would give myself a “7.” I feel like I’m definitely moving in the right direction. I feel like the journaling and meditation is making me feel more at ease in my life, not stressing too much about things as much as in the past. I have very strong relationships with a few close friends. Overall health and well-being is strong, although I could probably cut out the cookies for dessert after dinner. Marriage is probably the lowest area of my personal life right now, waiting to see where things might go in 2021. The other thing that’s been going well is the amount of reading…I just finished another book this morning, so that’s number 8 since the start of the new year. I’m learning so, so much right now!
Professionally – I would give myself a “6.” At UNCG, there’s a lot going on. A search for a new Provost. School of Health and Human Sciences just announced a new Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and plan to bring on a Director of Advising and Personal Development. Don’t know where I fit in any of the future plans – or even if I fit in the future plans. Treading cautiously, but know that Life Design Catalyst work is a game changer. May not work in HHS/UNCG in the future, so all options are out on the table. Life Design Institute is moving along, with goals to expand the LDC work to more institutions this year through trainings and workshops. I know there’s going to be a time – sometime soon – where I’m going to have to make a serious decision about my future of work. If you asked me if there’s someplace else I’d rather be, it would be at an institution that would see the value of empowering students to take more control of their lives, to pursue educational opportunities where they can use their gifts to serve something bigger than themselves, and that explores creative and innovative strategies to promote student success – success defined by the student, not by the institution.
How’s that for an honest answer about where I am today?
Other Stuff
Here’s another article that might be another useful read about life. The article I’m sharing today examines strategies to get your life together. In the Life Design Catalyst Facilitator Training that we host, we always emphasize that you have to go through the various activities yourself if you want to understand what others may feel if you give them the same activity. Therefore, if you plan to share this article with others, especially for potential discussions, you have to read it yourself. Before I go further, here’s the article:
- 30 Ways To Get Your Life Together Once And For All – https://www.aconsciousrethink.com/9878/get-your-life-together/
There a lot of great strategies listed here; at first, I started to list my favorites. When I listed 20 of the 30, I decided to just say that most are important to me. There are a few that I need to embrace more than others right now; after I finish this post, I will take a look at the list again and focus on 2-3 for this year.
What about you? What for you need to do to get your life together? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
The Dream Dean 