This Week's To Do

I need an attitude adjustment--having some impatience rearing its head. So, for this week I will try to:

• not be impatient with people who ask me to do time-consuming things that have very little impact on others
• get some people to help start some of the projects I need to get going

• translating the community network
  interface

  organizing the technology room at our upcoming
  conference

  getting that sligtly irritating new committee up
  and running with a diverse selection of volunteers

• get travel plans concrete
• not let people with personal agendas drag me in and cause me to spend more time than necessary dealing with their issues...that happened way too much to me last week
• be there to help friends who are having troubles of their own
• enjoy the kids
• make the appointments I need to make

• dentist--kids

  dentist--me

  vet--dogs

  doctor--D's toe

Weekend Goals

Watch this--I will try to not work today. Too late, I already wrote a long email and posted it in my work Wiki.

Other goals I may actually achieve:

• Be calm in coparenting even when I disagree with decisions of former spouse
• Finish church web update for www.lliveoakuu.org
• Update Live Oak Coffeehouse page www.liveoakuu.org/coffee/
• Go shopping
• Enjoy wedding I got invited to because my friend got the musicians' spouses invited along to the meal. Smooches to Eddie. It's at Green Pastures, a lovely old home turned into a restaurant. There are peafowl there.
• Work on the amusing mitred squares made from leftover sock yarn (hasn't turned out too pretty so far)
• Think longer and harder about how my attitude affects others--I got some nice validation yesterday from friends, and one said I am an agent for good in the world. And you know what? That is, I think, my primary goal.

Now must take boy and tuba to a rehearsal.

To Concentrate on Today

Periodically, I want to remind myself of what I am concentrating on so that I don't get all bogged down and take things personally that are not meant that way, and to distance myself from negativity so that it does not eat me up. Here are today's items, which are coming out like Stuart Smalley affirmations or something, but that can't be helped:

• I can model behaviors you would like to see in others (peaceful, nonjudgmental, thoughtftul, pro-active).
• What I do is helping others (thanks, Barbara).
• I am not the organization I work for.
• I can implement policies and represent points of view I do not agree with.
• I can separate my personal philosophy from the work I do, and expect others to do the same.
• My current projects are exciting and positive.
• I can learn new patterns (i.e., figure out how to disagree without either disappearing or fighting back too hard).
• My children love me so much.
• Every faction in a disagreement has legitimate points of view. Usually each has a contribution to the problem, as well (see Difficult Conversations)