I had hoped to get today’s Measuring Monday free write up tonight about personality assessments and inventories, but I need to make some edits and possibly break it into a few posts. So until then I’ll leave you all with a snapshot of my Clifton StrengthsFinder full 34 report.
Tag: MLabout
RENTHEAD
Tonight’s TV production of RENT was far from perfect, but the story and message behind it always will be. It gave me the spring board to take my health journey seriously back in 2010!
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Tidying
I already keep my stuff pretty tidy, but I went through all my clothes today to make sure the pieces I have still spark joy. Used new ways to reorganize some other things and refolded everything!
2018 Money Generation
I’m using today’s snow day to crunch some more 2018 numbers. This doesn’t even include my adjunct teaching gig – which totaled an additional $3,600 in 2018.
After working with my life coach @cscdanmason I really took to heart shifting from an employee mindset to an entrepreneurial mindset. I started with active money generation in Sept & Oct and then in November expanded to passive ways too.
Excited to see what my 2019 additional income looks like especially once I start getting paid as a fitness instructor!
Life Seasons
I read this at my Grandmother’s funeral mass. It’s a popular funeral reading, I remember it was read at my Dad’s funeral mass too. They are wonderful and comforting words that were also used in the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds.
The beauty of life is how true these words are.
The Matriarch
My grandma passed away yesterday at age 90 after quite a few years of failing health. This picture is from my grad school graduation in 2007.
We weren’t particularly close, but she was smart, very educated, belly danced as a hobby (even into her 60s), and taught me to curse in Slovak. But she was a very broken person for reasons she never shared or maybe fully explored, but it manifested itself in many ways. She never said please or thank you, instead she barked orders. She also was one to always remind people that they could lose some weight or had put on a few pounds. She was very critical of how her family did in school and was never satisfied with anything less than an A.
However she was my last surviving grandparent. My dad’s dad died when I was a baby and his mom died in 2001. My mom’s dad died in 1995. She was my mom’s mom and the long reigning family “matriarch.” She was the oldest of 4 sisters and lived longer than all of them. She has 2 daughters and each of her daughters has 2 daughters. However there’s also a long history of emotionally abusive mother daughter relationships which has lead to a very splintered and dysfunctional sorority of sorts.
My fiancé and I are heading up to New York for services which is going to be explosive I’m sure. I’m using this long car ride to prepare mentally. I hope I can get through the weekend relatively unscathed, but I don’t think I’m that lucky. I’m thankful for all the work I’ve done on myself the past 18 months particularly around my mom’s alcoholism and I have the supports to help me process things after this weekend. Thoughts are appreciated.
Measuring Monday: Purpose
As I have previously stated, I have long been one for New Years resolutions, but in 2018 I set an intention or the year and that was BALANCE. Of course I have goals, but what I truly intended to do was regain and maintain balance. Which I was pretty successful at and will always be a work in progress, but I learned a lot in 2018. When it came to 2019 I had a lot of ideas of what I wanted my intention for the year to be, but when I boil it down the word is PURPOSE.
I’m fine with being random at times, but I don’t want to be aimless or worse, wasteful. As Newton’s third law of motion tells us, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Therefore I want my actions to have purpose, meaning, thought, and intention. It’s becoming a daily habit when it comes to choices especially when choosing between things I am actively trying to choose the option that will bring me closer to my goals and my life’s purpose. It could be a choice between what I eat, who I spent my free time with, what time I wake up, how to best use my money, and more.
I want to the choices I make to get me closer to or achieve the following which – is far from complete and in no particular order:
- Reaching a healthy BMI for the first time ever as an adult
- Getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night
- Becoming debt free before the end of 2020 (student loans and renovation loan)
- Regularly teach fitness class
- Growing my website/blog/social media following
- Starting a podcast
- Consuming content that feeds my soul or teaches me something
- Healing my inner child
- Writing more including a manuscript
- Working only the hours absolutely required of me at my day job
- Spending more time outside
- Phasing out toxic relationships
- Attending regular live theatre performances and/or concerts
- Going on more dates with my fiance
- Reaching other financial goals and milestones
- Practicing regular self care
- Being kinder and gentler to myself and others
- Harnessing my creative side
Goal Crushers
Love the name and label of this beer from the brewery where my fiancé works part time. Tonight was his first attempt at home brewing beer! I’m really excited to see what goals we’ll both crush this year!!
A Look Back at the Beginning
Here’s a throwback to my very first blog post in January 2010. Back when it was more of a diary. I never thought I’d share it even anonymously let alone with people I know!
Everyone needs to start somewhere, but I started and have been documenting “it” ever since. It really meaning measuring life, weight loss/gain, love, stress, accomplishments, failures, coffee and more.
New Logo!
Welcome to my new full logo!
This logo was created with love by my dear friend and talented graphic designer A.
Quick backstory. Orange is my favorite color, but the hot pink has been part of the Measuring Life journey since the beginning (including my Measuring Life tattoo I got in Nov 2010). The Measuring pink color and font reflects my tattoo. Life is orange because the color orange is loud, bright, and unapologetic – which is how I try to lead my life. The hourglass in addition to a nod to an hourglass figure is a reminder that “life’s like an hourglass glued to the table” – a favorite lyric from the Anna Nalick song Breathe 2AM.
The Rent soundtrack inspired my moniker. 525,600 minutes – how do you measure a year while also remembering there’s no day but today!