Celebrating the 4th of July early.

Our nation stands at a crossroads.  To understand that fork in the road better, I highly suggest, if you have not or if it has been a long time, that you read the three most important documents in our country's history:  The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America and The Bill of Rights.

I do not agree with Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg; any nation who is interested in freedom should be glad and grateful to use our Constitution as a model for creating their own.  Perhaps if Egypt had used our Constitution, they wouldn't be in the mess they are in now.

Constitutional Law scholars argue over the interpretative status of that venerable document: should it be interpreted based upon the original intent of the framers or is it an evolving document, changing to meet the needs of each generation of Americans living under it?  Since I seem to have a thing for really old books written long ago, deemed antiquated by some, and not really very culturally-malleable,  I'm going with original intent.  (And don't even go down the old -dead-white-men-slavery route.  Reading McPherson's book on the Civil War taught me it was the Republicans who were the ones fighting to free the slaves while the Southern Democrats were fighting to keep slavery. Alice! We've gone down the rabbit hole!)

The potential exists for our nation to be fundamentally transformed into something recognizable only by the failures of previous countries who tried the same experiment.

As Thomas Jefferson said: "A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circlue of our felicities. "

He also said: "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."

Hear, hear, Mr. Jefferson! Hear, hear!

Continuing . . . Goals

Lest I be confused with our Congress, these are some more goals and not continuing resolutions!

*Creativity
I love to scrapbook, but in the past 6 months haven't had much time to do so.  Well, really, I've probably had the time but chose to do other things.  Isn't that always how it is?  We make time for the things we really value.  I need to carve out time to do this.  My child is old enough that my tools aren't a danger nor a temptation for him.  Carving out a space is the more challenging part, since scrapbooking is a hobby which requires spreading out - papers, tools, pictures, pages, embellishments, etc.  Creativity is very important for our brains and our souls; we were made in the image of the Creator.

*Novelty
There is a lot of research out that which shows that doing and learning new things is really good for your brain (are you sensing a theme here?).  I have started on this goal even before the New Year began.  You see, I bought my first real audiobook - The Life of Pi, although I got it from iTunes and not Amazon.  Holding a book in my hand, turning the page, smelling it, writing in it - these are the ways I "read" any book.  Listening to it, kind of a read-aloud for adults, is not something I do at all.  So I got this and have started listening to it while I walk on the treadmill.  It will also be an interesting experiment - will I remember more of the story?  What will I like about and dislike about it?  Do I attend better with someone else's voice in my head?  Am I secretly an auditory learner when I thought I was visual all along?

Maybe this book wasn't a good first choice.  The prose is so captivating that if I were reading it instead of listening to it there would be underlining everywhere.  I can't do that with an audiobook; frustratingly I try to recall those catchy phrases and apt descriptions and all I can come up with is the voice of the reader.  In the previous seven chapters, there were two dramatic instances of foreshadowing, which was probably more an effect of seeing the movie trailer, but, really, those first chapters were full of water - liquids of all kinds really.  It will be quite interesting to watch the movie after I listen to this book.

The novelty extends to lots of other areas.  I might try to ski or snowboard this year.  Since many of my friends knit, and I very basically can, perhaps I should work to encourage my creativity plus improve my skill, a very handy one to have should bartering become necessary.  Traveling to new places is exciting and new (but not necessarily on the Love Boat); I hope to do this quite a bit.  We have neglected our garden and that would be a good thing to pick back up.  Learning a language would really work the old brain over; Caleb has been haphazardly trying to learn Russian so maybe I'll join him.

*Finances
Managing money is a skill, one I am not very good at.  I know there is a spiritual link to money and how one uses it and feels about it and serving God.  I sadly confess I have put my hope in money at times instead of in God.  So one book I have been dreading reading, but know I must if I want to grow in this area, is Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.  I know that linked page is old (2008!) but I am even more fascinated by the Theology of Money course described under the book!  I want to learn more about this topic - nothing like getting two birds with one stone.

Resolved? Perhaps . . . .

Resolutions.
We resolve.
We succeed for about a week.
We give up.
We set ourselves up for failure.
So, perhaps, setting goals is better.

But before I jump from the frying pan into the fire, I like to define the terms, literally.

Resolve, according to dictionary.com, means: to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something); to convert or transform by any process; to separate into constituent or elementary parts; break up; cause or disintegrate.

Goal, aside from points scored in soccer or lacrosse, is defined as the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end; the terminal point in a race.

While I have made an earnest decision about some things in my life, things about myself I would like to transform or even disintegrate, I have aims, ends to which I am directing my efforts, things I would like to achieve.

I, will, therefore, not resolve to do anything but rather set up goals for myself. And they are as follows:

*Waste
I throw away food, far too much.  I spend way too much time on the computer goofing off, following rabbit trails and being generally unproductive.  I use too much shampoo and laundry detergent.  I don't reuse things that probably could be.  I'm not trying to reduce my carbon footprint or anything remotely close to that.  I just don't want to be as wasteful in this New Year as I was.  This goal can be met easily.  Freeze food in smaller portions and don't leave it in the refrigerator.  Set limits for myself on the computer, knowing some days will be better than others.  Use half a squirt of shampoo instead of a whole pump.

*Reading
I am, sadly, characterized by leaving books unfinished, especially in my book club, as you can tell by the side bar.  For someone who loves to read, it's a wonder this is a problem.  If I am reading, I'm not on the computer and I've met two goals at once.  At the end of the year, if all the books started are finished, then my goal has been met.

*Prayer
In this area, I would like to be more deliberate and intentional.  I would like to spend more time in the prayer closet, on my face before the Throne of Grace.  My life needs it but more importantly, the lives of my husband and children need it even more and, unfortunately, I have been negligent in this.

*Health
The past year and a half, I have been on an incredible weight loss journey.  I have eaten better,  exercised more, and been more active since.  I still have quite a few more pounds to go.  Walking is my preferred method of exercising; however, I realize my body and my brain need different.  I plan on doing yoga, spending some time shredding with Jillian and even running <gasp, wheeze>.  Lately I've been doing some interval training where I alternate walking and running.  The running part hasn't been that difficult, yet.  Maybe entering a 5K is in my future - I'm open to that and sometimes the hardest part about making life changes is just to be open to them!

The thing is, I know that some days are going to be 100% days but I also know that some days won't even be close to 1%.  Perhaps, that's really the overarching goal - to give myself more grace, to be more forgiving of my own mistakes and to have realistic expectations.