It's that time of the week again. Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday, as I ended up falling asleep early during the drubbing that the Steelers took at the hands of the Bears. Games like that are difficult enough to watch to begin with; compounding the pain is the prospect that you can simply fall asleep if you're watching it on your bed. Therefore, I got a great night's sleep, at the very least. However, it's Monday, and it's Judgment Day. Time to look at the past week in review, and figure out where to go from here. I've got some good news to report, and also some areas where I've stalled a bit.
Body
Weight on 9/16: 213 pounds
Weight on 9/23: 213 pounds (0)
This came to no surprise to me, as I let the stress of the past week keep me both from the gym and from eating in a healthier way. Putting off work to the last minute really ups my stress level, even though I find I'm most productive within the same window of time. I only made it to the gym once this past week, and I'm going to try to keep myself more honest in the week upcoming. I'm also going to set a goal to be done during work this week: 20 pushups and 20 sit-ups between each hour. I get roughly a five-minute break, and so a little "deskercise" would not hurt. Tomorrow afternoon, as I don't have to work until 6:00, I'm going to go to the gym after lunch. I'm going to get back on track with personal fitness and a good diet.
Mind
Mind is arguably where I made the biggest steps this week. I took a nice bite in my Coursera course this past week, getting about a week and a half of it done. I plan on taking Wednesday and/or Thursday afternoon as well to knock out another week and a half, putting me just half a week behind. I've also got to find a corporation to analyze for the final project, which I will explore this week after Wednesday, the day of my Counterinsurgency class. In that class I have to participate in a presentation, which will set me back some time both tonight and Tuesday. Beyond that, I got some good grades this week in different classes, which was encouraging. As midterms come closer, I need to start recapping some of the things I have learned in the past four weeks in my courses. Aside from Homecoming this upcoming weekend, I will try to find some ways to work some study in.
The other big step comes from my pursuit to study abroad this semester. I'm happy to announce that, after submitting my application a month ago, I've been accepted to the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia for the spring semester (Bogotá skyline pictured above). I'm extremely excited for this opportunity, but it makes the pursuit of becoming a better man that much more important. I have to focus myself even harder now, as I will be an example for both my school and my country to the people of UniAndes and the Bogotá community. I will be sure to update you all with news as it comes up. For now, I need to focus on securing the visa and improving my Spanish to make sure that I can function down in Bogotá both in society and in the classroom.
Spirit
Spiritually, not much new happened. I went to Mass on Sunday at 6:00pm, which was a good move, as Fr. Joe Freedy was saying Mass. He's truly an awesome priest, having come from a somewhat unusual background: starting quarterback at a Division I football program. His story can be found here. Anyways, he gave three very simple ways to increase our faith, all of which I could do as quickly as this week.
1) Go to Mass every Sunday.
2) Go to Confession twice per semester.
3) Say an Our Father the moment your feet touch the floor, after waking up.
For this week, I'm going to try to hit all three of these. I would like to go to Confession, which is arguably the hardest of the three. Usually I say Confession to a private confessor, but I think I'll try to go before one of the Daily Masses at the Oratory. Regardless, I think my spirit and heart need a little healing. For anyone else interested in the same thing, an examination of conscience can be found at this webpage (scroll down to about 2/3 if you don't want to read the preceding passages).
In the upcoming week, I plan to take a couple baby steps. I'm going to get back on track with my courses, my fitness and my faith. I see plenty of opportunities to stumble, yet many chances to stay resolute. I'm going to focus this week on keeping my goals closer to mind in the short term, instead of only thinking about them every other day or so. Eyes continually on the prize, let's continue into another week!
Mind
Mind is arguably where I made the biggest steps this week. I took a nice bite in my Coursera course this past week, getting about a week and a half of it done. I plan on taking Wednesday and/or Thursday afternoon as well to knock out another week and a half, putting me just half a week behind. I've also got to find a corporation to analyze for the final project, which I will explore this week after Wednesday, the day of my Counterinsurgency class. In that class I have to participate in a presentation, which will set me back some time both tonight and Tuesday. Beyond that, I got some good grades this week in different classes, which was encouraging. As midterms come closer, I need to start recapping some of the things I have learned in the past four weeks in my courses. Aside from Homecoming this upcoming weekend, I will try to find some ways to work some study in.
The other big step comes from my pursuit to study abroad this semester. I'm happy to announce that, after submitting my application a month ago, I've been accepted to the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia for the spring semester (Bogotá skyline pictured above). I'm extremely excited for this opportunity, but it makes the pursuit of becoming a better man that much more important. I have to focus myself even harder now, as I will be an example for both my school and my country to the people of UniAndes and the Bogotá community. I will be sure to update you all with news as it comes up. For now, I need to focus on securing the visa and improving my Spanish to make sure that I can function down in Bogotá both in society and in the classroom.
Spirit
Spiritually, not much new happened. I went to Mass on Sunday at 6:00pm, which was a good move, as Fr. Joe Freedy was saying Mass. He's truly an awesome priest, having come from a somewhat unusual background: starting quarterback at a Division I football program. His story can be found here. Anyways, he gave three very simple ways to increase our faith, all of which I could do as quickly as this week.
1) Go to Mass every Sunday.
2) Go to Confession twice per semester.
3) Say an Our Father the moment your feet touch the floor, after waking up.
For this week, I'm going to try to hit all three of these. I would like to go to Confession, which is arguably the hardest of the three. Usually I say Confession to a private confessor, but I think I'll try to go before one of the Daily Masses at the Oratory. Regardless, I think my spirit and heart need a little healing. For anyone else interested in the same thing, an examination of conscience can be found at this webpage (scroll down to about 2/3 if you don't want to read the preceding passages).
In the upcoming week, I plan to take a couple baby steps. I'm going to get back on track with my courses, my fitness and my faith. I see plenty of opportunities to stumble, yet many chances to stay resolute. I'm going to focus this week on keeping my goals closer to mind in the short term, instead of only thinking about them every other day or so. Eyes continually on the prize, let's continue into another week!
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