Day 8 – short-term goals for this month

I used to be really into setting goals, but after a while I realized it was just depressing because invariably I’d never reach them. Our society seems to be pathologically goal-orientated – married by a certain age, children by this age, brilliant career, millionaire by 30 – faster, stronger, slimmer, prettier, higher. Impossibly high standards are foisted on us and then we get crushed when we don’t meet them.
Challenge is different – challenge helps us grow and gives us self-belief. It may be just an age thing, but I’ve decided I’d rather enjoy the journey than stress over the destination. It has manifested itself in strange ways; I’m no longer competitive, whereas I used to be very much so, and I’ve lost interest in competitive sports. I really don’t care who wins a rugby, netball, yachting race anymore, I just like watching them.  Once I realized the fun of life is in the doing, I started to enjoy it a whole lot more. So my one and only goal at any time, is make the most of each day and have as much fun as possible doing it!

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Day five – a picture of somewhere I’ve been to…

When I was about 12, my family belonged to the country club out by the airport, (which is not as fancy as it sounds). I used to watch the jumbo jets take off and all I could think of was the day when I could jump on one and fly away from dumb old New Zealand. To be fair, this was way back in the 1970s and this place was dull! It has improved considerably since then but I still love to travel, and I’ve been really lucky in that I have lived in and traveled to many different places. By far, though, my favourite place in the whole world is Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. Not only is it stunningly beautiful, but the locals are lovely, and I feel connected to the place whenever I’m there. I have been there five times already, which may be too

It really is that beautiful

many as there is not a lot to do there, but fortunately not doing a lot, especially on a beach with a good book, is one of my all-time favourite past-times – and I’m very good at it too!

Day Four – a habit you wish you didn’t have

I have a problem

So many bad habits – where to begin? Judging from the other #30daysofme blogs I have been reading, procrastination is so prevalent it should be considered a normal human behaviour. I have all the usual bad eating, drinking and lazing habits that abound among humans, so the habit I’ll focus on, because it is combines with why I’m doing this challenge, is my habit of buying writing books instead of actually writing.

Now, they are all great writing books, and I love reading them, so much so that I’m always buying another. But apparently you are meant to put what they say into actual practice! Even odder is that I enjoy writing – once I start. Sadly, I’m realising it is just the sin of procrastination in another form.