About 5 years ago, my girls and I were on the verge of starting our on investment club. Those were all the rage then and we wanted a part. We educated ourselves, got books, did research, met with other investment clubs, even joined NAIC, yadda yadda. Being that all 4 of us were in different locations, our meetings were via conference call. Needless to say, but since we were all in different places, these monthly conference calls became more catch up and less investment and our club disbanded. I personally, have not tried the investment club thing since.
Moving along. One of the exercises we did in planning for this investment club was to brainstorm our desires as a method of identifying what we were saving our moolah for. What we aspired for in our lives, no matter how small or large the dream was - we wrote it down. This weekend as I am cleaning out boxes and going through stuff from storage, I came across the journal I wrote down my brainstorm of desires for my life. From August 2001:
Hair - New style, braids. Want to cutoff and regain a healthy state. May invest in some wigs to determine a fitting hairstyle.Wow. 5 years later and I've accomplished about 8 of these, some inadvertently, others purposefully. The rest, well I am still a work-in-progress and my values and ideas have changed or I'd started but never finished so.....
Glasses - Want a new pair of casual frames. Black with highlighted rims/edges - "Betsey Johnson's." Time to get a new pair of prescription sunglasses as well.
Dental -- Need to get crowns/teeth repaired. Have a image to maintain with my beautiful teeth! Think about a whitening product to blend the two front discoloration splotches.
Skin -- Seeing a dermatologist about facial breakouts.
Spanish -- Improve with conversation classes and practice sessions. Perhaps increase my participation in the Latino community.
Salsa/Latin Dance/Hand Dance -- Find a SERIOUS partner and take higher quality lessons and go out dancing/practicing more often.
Find a Church Home -- Seek out more spiritual stimulation and visit with others. Follow up with plans to visit DFK's congregation and become active in a ministry.
New Home -- Continue attending the home buying seminars. Make effort to see what properties are available and determine what it is I can live in (space, location, amenities, etc.) I've outgrown my current apartment and the cost is no longer worth it.
New Car -- Within the next 2 years, get a new car. Something manageable that will last for the next 5-8 years, just like my current ride!!
Travel -- For me, a trip to Carnival; a trip to Hedonism; a trip to Cali more than once a year to check on the family.
Travel for my family -- Help my brother and sister-in-law, have the little people come and visit for a week or so. Also spring for a getaway weekend for my mom and sister in the Caribbean.
Career -- Become more active in international advocacy efforts. Do more networking with in my current field for advice to begin my own NPO. Make contacts for eventual building of the NPO and renew old contacts. Create a timeline for this activity.
Social Life -- Become engaged in meeting new people for increased social activity. Try to engage friends in new activities. Travel more with my girlz and vow to get together or a more regular basis. Work on defining and maintaining my relationship with Mr. Baltimore and other suitors.
I'd truly forgotten I'd ever documented, in this fashion, the things I wanted to do/change/initiate in my life. So it was quite eye-opening to see it written and to then realize just how much I have done, much of it in the last 2 years or so. I must note that this was written, before 9/11, which had a big impact on my life -- one of the initial reasons I wanted out of DC.
Some of the things cracked me up -- why am I so worried about the teeth discoloration? Nobody has ever noticed it -- that's my damn vanity -- whitening for that? Puhleeze LMAO Mr. Baltimore -- was I seriously contemplating a relationship with Mr. Baltimore? You've GOT to be kidding me?! LOL I was sooo ME-ME-ME focused. Not much about helping others, helping my family, giving back, ouch. I wasn't focused on the larger picture at all, just alot of superficial, image-conscious, accoutrement gathering desires. Maturity doth come.
I'll have to make a point of brainstorming my desires from this point in my life forward in a future post. I'm at a plateau point in my transition where I can finally take some time to consider what's next before I continue my onward and upward journey.
..::More to Come::..
[Song of the Day: "Find Myself in You" by Brian McKnight]
1 comments:
Ironic I stopped in here. I sit here alone as my wife headed to our investment club meeting. I stopped going months ago because they never followed NAIC rules anyway, and because we spent so much time socializing, and trying to recruit more members, that we spent no time studying.
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