The Beginning

“True happiness is the full use of your powers along lines of excellence in a life affording scope.”
-John F. Kennedy

Today I'm looking at a crossroads in my life.  I'm just about to enter the second year of graduate school, and my career prospects are still unknown. I've got a new apartment for the year, but paying rent and bills is going to be a challenge.  Many of my friends are back here with me, but I also have to accept that more of them have moved on after graduating from undergrad.  What should I do, given these circumstances?  I look at myself as a human being, and see a contrast of qualities.  There are many things I like about myself, yet many things that also disappoint me.  My quest this year is to make some changes.

Over the next school year I intend to share with you all a lot of things about myself.  I'm going to show you things that I'm good at, as well as things that I like to do.  I'm also going to share the things that I'm trying to improve upon, paying special attention to getting better at them every day.  On balance, I want this blog to be positive, but there will be rough patches.  I'm going to write about places where I have failed and continue to fail.

There are three main areas that I want to tackle, in terms of personal development:  body, mind and spirit.  The first comes from a desire to get back into shape:  all summer I told myself I was going to do it, and I never really did.  In fact, I think I've gained weight.  During the beginning of this semester, that needs to change.  If I do not find a new diet for myself, not only will I suffer through the late summer heat, but I will be broke from not being able to cook for myself well.  I also promised myself that I would read more books this summer, and I never really did that, either.  All of those free mornings I wasted on the computer, on Skype, on Facebook, etc., kept me from broadening my horizons and thinking about more important things.  I plan to tell you all a lot about books I read.  My spiritual life also needs a tune-up:  although still a churchgoer, I want to get in better touch with God and the world around me.  Therefore, I might write a prayer or two from time to time for a little inspiration.

In the end, I'm going to try to keep these entries short, but ultimately I'm a man of many words, and sometimes you all will either have to put up or shut up.  You'll either love what I have to say or hate it, and I leave it entirely to you all to decide.  I'm going to stop for now, but over the next couple days I will be brewing all sorts of ideas and issue areas to tackle.  Until then, take care, and strive to be better every day!