Proud of S.M.

This is just a shout out to S.M

I love her.

I am proud of her.

She has enrolled in school full-time (you should know she also has a job and four kids).  In one-year her degree will be done and she will be able to have some more doors opened.

She is such a creative, smart and passionate person - her value far exceeds what her current situation has her contributing and receiving.

I am SOO excited for her.  She is capable of great things and I think making this decision to make this happen is definitely a sign that she is thriving.  I am certain the next year will FEEL like just surviving - but all I see is thriving!

Keep Thriving!

~K.J.

Is Will A Skill?

I would eat the marshmallow.  Then justify it by telling myself that I don't need two anyway, so I am actually doing myself a favor.

The good news?  We CAN learn NEW SKILLS that will help us!

Just a positive thought for the day!

Thrive!

~K.J.

Crucial Moments

Sometimes when I think about all that I want to know and be - I am overwhelmed at how much I have to learn.

So I read.

One of the books I have been reading lately is Influencer by Joseph Greeny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler.

Today I read this and thought it had EVERYTHING to do with the journey of thriving and how to get there.

"Think through the crucial moments when your vital behaviors are most at risk.  Remember, these crucial moments are the time, places, people, moods, and circumstances when you are most likely to fail.  Find a way to buddy up for protection in these few crucial moments."

That is the spirit of this blog.  S.M. and I buddy up for protection and for support in discovering the path.

One more quote from that chapter... "Since you're on the wrong side of your eyeballs, you can't always see exactly what it is that you're doing that works or doesn't work."

Do we seek feedback often enough?  REAL feedback.  Not, you're my friend so make me feel better feedback - but you're my friend so tell me the truth kind of feedback.

Thrive Today,

K.J.

This is Like the Journal That I "Re-Start" Every Several Months

This blog has been on my mind a lot lately.  It is a project… a project of discovery that I started years ago.  It was meant to be a quest to discovery. I was determined that if I journal the process, I would find the path that leads from surviving to thriving.  However, years have passed and ‘reasons’ I may have once sensed were the obstacles to my thriving have changed.

Perhaps I thought that if I lost 20 pounds, I would be suited to thrive more in my life – but if that was true, than now I need to lose 40.  If I felt it was my job, now I can say that is one significant step in the right direction, but it didn’t ‘fix’ everything.  I no longer feel that the answer lies in eliminating the trials of life.  That is not realistic.  Thriving cannot be simply a life void of trials.  Thriving is a life full of trials wherein we experience joy.

Staying true to some of my original thoughts I do think that sometimes life just hits us hard and that hit may de-rail us and we cannot simply just return to the tracks. It is almost as if new tracks are required and in the process of searching for those new tracks – we get lost off the tracks.

Marriage, children, job and even we may not be perfect but we must find a way to discover a way of life and a pattern of thought within the day-to-day surviving that allows us to thrive.  Today (this is a quest for discovery – we’ll see if my views of today turn out to be valid) I feel that there are two main elements involved in thriving.  1.  Aligning our will with God’s for our life.  2. Setting goals and making strides towards becoming all you can be and all that God wants you to be.

When we find ourselves ‘kicking against the pricks’ we are certainly not headed in a direction of feeling like we are thriving.  And when we press forward in life with a stubborn attitude of thinking we have it all figured out and will take out whomever and whatever is necessary to get what we want, again, it is only common sense that tells me that will not lead to long-term happiness.

I know that God can do great things with us and as I reflect on life and on all He has done with me, I recognize my times of greatest happiness came from times when I was acting on impressions of the Spirit and aligning my life to His will for me.

How does this translate to action:  Well – I don’t think God’s greatest concern for me in life is that I am a size 6.  I do however feel that He wants me to be healthy – as I can do more good for Him when my body is in a condition to do that good.  So, I need to focus my goals to being items that I feel led to accomplish.  I really think that as I put my focus and effort in areas where the Lord would have me, perhaps I’ll wake up one day and find that the joy I feel from being on His path has given me more energy and I’ll naturally become a size 10, then 8 and maybe even someday 6.  But even if I don’t I will have found that size 6 was not the source of joy.

My areas of concern these days are all around being a better wife, mother, servant of God and prioritizing my own personal development.

How do I act on all of that?  Read, study and pray.  Then act on what I feel for each day.

Off to Thrive ~
K.J.

What Is The Purpose?

This blog was supposed to be about HOW to get there.  How to snap out of the phase of life where all I am doing is surviving and get to a point where I am thriving.  It has to be possible.  I have that hope.  It would be a sad state of life if once you were in a survival mode you never left it!  But, the question that remains is HOW.  How do you get there?

This blog may look like a fail... it has been years in the making - but that is also the purpose.  The blog was so I could capture the journey and be able to look back and understand how I got there (once I get there that is).  Because if I can understand it better, than I HOPE to help others find their way.

Here is my new start... my new attempt and making this a reality.  Goals.  Yep.  Had them before and failed at them before.  But, I am tired of saying I am trying.  I am not going to try.  I WILL press forward.  I suppose it takes a different state.  Perhaps a state of desperation?  I don't know.  I have thought I was there before, only to find I wasn't ready to stop trying and just do it.  But I don't know that I understand why that is yet.

Here are my goals... Declared publicly!

#1 - We sold our house and I have some serious work to do.  I want this move to be orderly and not chaos.  So, my first goal is to work consistently at packing to be competed with packing the house by the end of September.  I did three boxes last night.  I have a hundred more to do, but I made progress.

#2 - Weight.  Ugh!  It is so ridiculous.  But today I told myself if I can't make this a reality - how do I expect to reach ANY goals.  This is doable... I just have to WORK HARD!  I want to loose 40lbs by Jan 31, 2015.  I plan to keep a food journal and keep my calories at 1200/day.  And I have the FIRM Express videos.  They are 20 min great workouts.  I have to find 20 minutes.  No excuses.  So - 6 days a week.  3 days a week I will do 2 videos.

#3 Finish My Book. Diary of a Widow.  I am going to work on it one full night a month.  While I am traveling on business.  Perfect opportunity to dig in.

#4 Family Book.  I hate that I am not doing any photo journaling.  So, my goal is to do 2 this year.  One on my mother-in-law's life and one on our family.  Both to be complete by Christmas.  I will spend 2 hours on 2 Sunday's a month.  I hope that is sufficient time to complete.

#5 Career.  I have until mid-December to collect all the information I need to chart a course towards completing my degree.

So - here it is.  Declared publicly.  The question is will you hear from me again anytime soon?  Always the question.  :)

Off to Thrive!

~K.J.

Victory in Thriving

I used to be fun.. and want to be fun again.  So, I must celebrate the progress.

Monday - Labor Day.

We went to a local Ski Resort to take advantage of their Summer Fun.  Ropes courses.  High in the trees.  It was hard. I survived.. and maybe even thrived a little.  :)

We were STARVING when we were done so went to the on-site snack shack.  As we sat eating, Billy Joel's Piano Man came on the radio.  I sang.  (you should know that is not a pretty sound)  Then, I sang louder.  Then, I stood up on the fireplace hearth and did a little karaoke type display.  Very loudly.

I thought the kids would die of embarrassment.  Everyone survived.  And I felt that I had thrived. Even if just for a moment.

I feel like I have been so blessed with a job that is perfect for me.  I really do enjoy it.  Sure there are things that are a little less fun to do - but over all I enjoy what I do... and I think I do it well.

I am almost two years in to blending our family of six kids.  It has it's challenging days - but I love our family.  It works.

I love my husband.  He is a gift. And the only thing that gets in the way of me feeling that is my own pride.

Thriving... is about Gratitude.  That much I have learned.