Friday, May 25, 2012

You Say It's Your Birthday . . .



A year ago I wrote a series of posts to celebrate my 50th birthday - thoughts, ideas, reflections, lessons learned, plans, etc.  So, since that time has rolled around again, I decided to re-read what I wrote and see if I would change or add anything.  Basically, the answer was "no", but I could have been more succinct.  My life "mission statement" - if you'll pardon a New-Age-babble phrase I  hate - can be summed up in 5 points:

1.  Finish well.  This is a simple way of saying that I want to do better during the second half.  To quote Oprah Winfrey quoting Maya Angelou, "When you know better, you do better."  After 51 years, I hope I know better and have been/will continue to do better - mentally, spiritually, physically, socially.   On the physical front, I've taken off 40 lbs.  As for the other areas, I am attempting to. . .

2.  Live Graciously.  Gracious - pleasantly kind, benevolent, courteous, merciful or compassionate.  All attributes that I feel are in short supply in our country.  Tim Gunn is my mentor!

3.  Live Simply.  Weed out those possessions, relationships, commitments  and attitudes that cause stress or take more time to maintain than they are worth. 

4.  Interact with people.  I recently saw a news story about how technology is making it easier for us to avoid personal contact.  Self-checkout, shopping on-line, ATM's, Twitter,  - all ways to do what we need to do without actually talking to or even seeing people.  We have moved frequently and over the years I find myself making less and less effort to meet people and build friendships, so I am making a conscious effort to reverse that - even if it's just smiling and saying hello to the clerk at the grocery store.  Dave and I agree that, in general, we have made better friends over a beer than we have over a hymnal.  As sad as that may be, it has held true over the past 30 years, so I'm trying to interact more - you never know where I'll find my next friend.

5.  Revive my faith by going back to the basics.  No pre-written devotions, no commentaries, no books preaching someone else's idea of Christianity.  Just me, the Bible, God and what He chooses to reveal to me.


 Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8

8 comments:

  1. Happy birthday! I love your #5. I remember a few years back having trouble with praying and I thought "I'll get a book about praying" and then I realized "I have the best book about prayer; why go out and get another one". So I started reading the Bible more about what it says with praying :)

    I love Micah 6:8. To walk humbly with God, what a thing to do!

    Wishing you the best in the year ahead!

    betty

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  2. Happy Birthday! I've moved a lot, too and I find truth in your statement that it has been easy to make friends over beer. And I love Tim Gunn! :) Thank you for a reminder that I haven't given much thought to MY 'theme' this year and that is to Be Generous in Spirit.
    :)

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  3. I agree that we are losing our skills to communicate in person. I am guilty of this! Live simply is something I dream about yet I still buy silly things I don't need.
    Wishing you success with your Mission Statement. Have a great weekend and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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  4. First of all, Happy Birthday! Second of all, thank you for sharing your excellent and hard-won wisdom .I agree with it 100% and I aspire to do the same things.

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  5. Happy Birthday Tami!! I hope you have a wonderful day and a great weekend!

    By the way, this post is just wonderful. I love all of your goals. Good luck with them.

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  6. Happy Birthday - I love your post, it has all the things I needed to hear today. God Bless.

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  7. Happy belated birthday! Tim Gunn is a great example :) I found this post inspirational, thank you!

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  8. I told you happy birthday on twitter and am just now getting around to visiting here so Happy Birthday again! I so love your mission statement, every word so true! My mom's birthday is also on the 25th. She turned 85!

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