Day 003: Honesty, Toastmasters, & a Quick Live Not Ordinary Update

Today is Day 003, and I am still not 100% sure where I am going but I do know a couple of things…

First, I have to be honest. UGHHHH!!!

Isn’t this part of what I am trying to do? Be honest. Be real? Yep it is, even when I’d rather not be.

There is not doubt in my mind that gratitude is a huge part in seeing the good, doing the good, and being the good that it must be a daily practice. It can never be overlooked or forgotten about. I see it all around me and it often comes naturally now. Big things, little things, natural things, funny things, people who love me and those who challenge my ability to love. So many things to be grateful for!

My morning prayer, before I get out of bed every day is, “Thank you Lord for this day. Thank you for all the good and the bad this day will bring. I love you very much.” It’s short and sweet. It’s intentional and true.

And some days I even find myself being thankful for the bad as I said I’d be in that simple morning prayer! Some days I can find Blessings in hardship in the midst of the hardship, but much of the time, I need to look back after the hullabaloo is over to find positive outcomes from pain.

That’s a topic I will get to another time. It’s too important to leave to 2235 on a work night with more writing that needs to be done.

The point to my rambling here is that, when starting this, I knew communicating gratitude had to be a big part of choosing to Live Not Ordinary. While the rest of the world is playing the victim or blame game or trying to see what other toys they can stack up, I want to just quietly appreciate the goodness all around me and openly, and maybe more importantly, humbly share that with others. This is another topic too big for tonight, but again, the point is…

I blew it last night. I was too tired to complete my gratitude list and figured I’d go back and do it today for yesterday.

But that would be dishonest.

As I try to Live Not Ordinary, to see good, do good, and be good, I have to be ready to admit my failings. Last night I failed to complete my gratitude. It makes me uncomfortable to admit that, but this world was not created to make me comfortable. This world is more created to challenge me, and so my challenge today is to rise to honesty and be grateful for the opportunity to try again today.

Tonight I will be glad I have another day on this Earth to try.

Tonight I will be glad we serve an Almighty God who gives us so many second chances!

Toastmasters…

So I picked up my minivan from the car shop today and, instead of going home, I did what I did NOT want to do. I drove to the local office building where Toastmasters was having their biweekly meeting. I hadn’t gone in years. I don’t want to go. I want to be able to stand up in front of everyone and give a speech without fear or struggle.

I want to be good at it without trying.

I feel like, God has put this on my heart so He should just make me a natural at it – piece of cake!

But that’s not how God works. He knows we get as much, if not more, from the working through the struggle to attain what He asks of us as we do from doing what He asks of us. He knows I did not want to go to Toastmasters tonight which is precisely why I needed to go.

If I want to reach people for good I need to do what other people who want good but do what they’ve always done, won’t do. If I want to Live Not Ordinary, I need to do what others don’t want to do.

What’s more, if I want to Live Not Ordinary, I must do what I don’t want to do.

And so, instead of going home and doing my schoolwork, turning on the television to watch another political pundit or some random free downloaded movie, or stuffing my face with cookie dough or ice cream (This is my week to indulge – I have to talk about that later too!), I made the drive to Toastmasters.

And I am so glad I did.

I’ll talk about that another night too. For now, my writing time is up and I need to do my Gratitude List (so I don’t skip it again!) and head to bed!

Good Night and God Bless…

Gratitude List Thursday, April, 13, 2014

1. Getting the calculators in and unpacked!
2. Checking that all the calculators were functioning and finding only one charger not working as opposed to one charging station! Phew!
3. Getting some ideas on how to run a TI Nspire scavenger hunt and do some fun activities in class tomorrow.
4. Tomorrow’s pep rally falling in perfect timing for the unit 8 test, the return after Easter break, and the calculator’s arrival.
5. T’s calling to ask if I wanted him to drive me to my car.
6. Robin scooping ice cream.
7. N wanting math help and working hard today!
8. THE GORGEOUS DAY!!!
9. The many shades of blue for the distant mountains.
10. People complimenting my outfit.
11. Adding leggings and shawl to my outfit, which was SOOOO much better than the cover-up alone!
12. Laying down for a few minutes this afternoon.
13. The kind people at Toastmasters.
14. The topic of, “If you could go anywhere for two weeks, where would it be?”
15. T
16. Another day on Earth to try again.
17. My God, my King of second and third and an almost infinite number of chances!
18. That I promised to list ten things to be grateful for every day, but once I start listing them, there are just so many!!!
19. Looking up at the American flag when I brought it in from out of the dark tonight. 🙂
20.