Monday, May 26, 2014

This year's birthday goals

I had a pretty interesting conversation with a student recently, he was questioning me about my path to how I got my job and if I had any goals I was still hoping to accomplish. I had to think about it for a few minutes and I realized this year I have things I want to accomplish but no specific goal as how to accomplish them. So this year, my birthday list is looking a bit different. 

1. I want to love without fear of consequence, to love without judgment and without discrimination. To love freely, and freely give it to everyone. To love regardless of the recipient, and to love without strings. To love without asking for anything in return. To be consumed with love until it overflows and can't help but to touch each individual I interact with. 

2. I want to work on my relationship with The Lord. Sometimes I forget that our relationship with our Savior is no different then our relationships with friends and family here on earth. Spending time learning about one another, enjoying one another's company and deliberately choosing each other time and time again to strengthen our earthly relationships is exactly the same thing we need to strive for with God. Any relationship can atrophy from lack of use, so I want to daily choose to better than relationship with my personal Savior. My father. Your father. 

3. I want to learn to be more selfless, which coincidently will probably become easier with the first two choices for this year.  My easy ability to love an item, a lifestyle and have that become self consuming is not a way I want to live. I do not want to sub-conscientiously allow items to create happiness, and a selfless person is able to recognize that people matter more than items and more then our own selfish desires.                                                   

So there you have it. My list for this year. 

This weekend has been a great start. Time with friends and family, time in nature and one day to just spend with God learning more about his vast love for me. There was a time statements like that I would find gag worthy or slipping into the "Christian nerd" category, but having experienced this healthy love that is true, that is free of judgment or discrimination, that is all consuming I don't care how it sounds. I'll let my nerd flag fly high. I wish every weekend was three days so I could fit everything in without feeling rushed. This is bliss. 

Short and sweet this time around.