SMART Goals

Setting goals for ourselves can be helpful. Having something to pursue and to work towards has helped many people achieve amazing things. Reality is, most people have a bucket list. However, I don't.

For the past month, I have been working towards crafting the perfect SMART goals that align with my company's strategic goal for the upcoming fiscal year. Instead of thinking these goals were important for me, I simply wrote goals that I thought my boss would be impressed with. Writing these goals seemed more of an extra task at work, rather than a helpful tool for my own development at work. You may be wondering what a SMART goal is. SMART goals are goals that are:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-Bound

A few months ago, I engaged in a discussion about goals with my Young Adult Ministry group.  This topic seemed fitting as I had just turned in my first draft of goals for work. Our discussion leader asked us to create a list of 101 goals that we wish to achieve before we die. Call me naive, but I don't find that necessary. I only have one goal in this life: to get to Heaven.

So I wonder, if we worried about simply achieving this ONE goal.. everything else would not matter... our joy would come from living a life that is centered around Christ and not the Earthly measures of success. The Earthly things we seek could be gone in the blink of an eye; however, our Heavenly Father offers us eternal life. Why would anyone not want to choose Heaven over the temporary, materialistic, society-defined measures of success?

If we focused one one goal instead of 101, we would allow ourselves to take chances to try new things instead of fearing it may deviate us too far from our goal. By continuing to pursue our main goal in life, we would continue to seek the good things that bring us closer to God. God has out in our hearts a longing for more for a reason. He is so magnificent that he made this "thirst quencher" something different for every single person. He instigates these passions and longings in our heart to give us clues as to how to be his helpers in this world. He died for us, so we could be saved; so he needs our help to continue his work for him here on Earth.

To Be Young

I find myself often rushing through life. I often ask myself, "What does my future hold?" I know I'm not alone. I am surrounded by people that fail to live in the moment, always wondering what is next. We tend to forget that we won't ever get back the time we wasted planning for the future. Those days are gone. I pray that I remember to live in the moment and enjoy being young. I know God has a plan for me. I have come to realize that maybe life isn't about the happy ending, maybe it is about the story.

I blame society

It takes time to come to realize the desires of your heart. We are constantly surrounded by "fashion", marketing, criticism, and simply others' opinions that sometimes it is hard to figure out whether the choices we make are truly our own. We seek acceptance by others who we think their opinion matters - but does it? If you could do anything, what would it be? Our definition of success is so distorted, and I blame society for it. You, and only you, can define your own success.

Agape Love

He died, because He loved me. I live for His love. His plan for me is more amazing than anything I could ever plan for myself. In this broken world, we're all searching for something that is missing. We all search for it in different ways. One thing I do know. I know that He will be the one to light the way.

Los Angeles, I am home!

2,000 miles away from half of my heart, I find myself enjoying a hot cup of coffee while watching a beautiful sunset on my balcony. Living in Los Angeles makes it so easy to feel like a nobody. It is so easy to feel alone. Gazing at the sun, I get a comforting feeling. I know that distance does not change the fact that I am not alone. I know that 2,000 miles away from here, all my loved ones are thinking about me too. It's time for a new beginning, and a new life in LA. Hello, CALIFORNIA! I have arrived!

In Pink's words, someone say a prayer for me.

Cheers to new beginnings!