Sharing Our Spoons – October Goals

Its time for another monthly link up of Sharing Our Spoons! Initially we tried to make this a weekly linkup but working on five goals a week was pretty intensive and way too much pressure so collectively we decided to try making SOS a monthly linkup! I think this will allow for some short-term goals but will help create long-term perspective as well! I hope you all decide to join in!

Here are the goal guidelines:

1. Physical: could be weight loss or exercise related or it could be goals like eating more veggies or cutting soda
2. Mental/Emotional: take a day to be alone, write a letter, paint, etc
3. Spiritual: start a new devotional book, commit a certain amount of time a day for prayer/meditation
4. Something fun: Take time to treat yourself – maybe a pedicure or Starbucks (if you don’t typically splurge for specialty coffee)
5. BONUS: One thing to get you out of your comfort zone a week – try something new, sign up for a class you maybe have been putting off.

Progress linkups will be posted the first Tuesday of every month!

Here were my goals for September & the changes I plan to make for October!:

• Physical:Cut back to one soda a day. Since my surgery, Coke has been my trusty companion because of the nausea. Now that we have the nausea controlled to a minimum, its time to cut the cord. So far I’ve been lucky enough to maintain the 20 lb weight loss from surgery but I need to start making healthier choices starting with soda. I’m getting started on this one! I have started making myself drink a full water bottle (the one I use is 24oz) before I am allowed to have a Coke and I’ve been keeping the 12oz bottles on hand (versus the 20oz) and once I’m done, its back to water. Sometimes in the evening, I sneak another one since its often when nausea creeps in but I need to find a better substitute! I’m not completely down to my goal but I’m getting there! Hanging onto this goal for another month!
• Mental/Emotional: Schedule lunch with a former professor to help gain perspective on the impact of this most recent surgery and help reassess my goals as far as how my illness affects my ministry. Fail. Sending email today to schedule a lunch date!
• Spiritual: Read How to Start A Chronic Illness Small Group Ministry by Lisa Copen and continue to pray for God’s guidance in whether or not to start a group locally. Loving this book! I’m about 1/3 of the way through and it has really made me think! I’ve already spoken with my pastor and he is totally behind starting up this ministry for our church and community! There is quite a bit of planning to do before we are ready to kick off but we are definitely moving in the right direction! Plan to write a review of the book when I’m done!
• Something fun: Participate in What I Wore Wednesday blog linkups at least 3 times this month. Another fail. MUST.DO.THIS.
• BONUS: I am working on a big project which is definitely taking me out of my comfort zone! MAJORLY! I cannot wait to share the details with you guys and will definitely need your help once its launched! I don’t want to share too much right now but it revolves around taking a big step to help spread endometriosis awareness! DONE! My Dear NASCAR was the big project I was working on and I could still use your help on keeping the word out there! This project definitely does not have an end date! This month is Tough Stuff Month over at WeGo Health and they are hosting a blog carnival and I want to link up with at least one blog post! This will be a step out of my comfort zone as the topics, as the title says, are the tough things we often find it hard to talk about such as disability, denial, and fear. I had the honor of being a part of a discussion panel with WeGo Health and ButYouDontLookSick covering the topic of parenting and chronic illness and words cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. I not only got to share a part of my story and hopefully encourage some other moms out there but I received so much encouragement myself! It has motivated me that much more to stay an active health advocate! We were not able to cover all of the topics we were hoping so we are invited back for a part two! They will be posting the link to yesterday’s discussion this week so I will let you know the link as well as the date for part two!

What are your goals for the month? You can link up your blog post in the linky below or leave your goals in a comment!