Conquering Procrastination...One Step at a Time

Procrastination is such a wicked thing!  One minute you think it's your friend, as it lulls you into a 'take-time-for-yourself-you-deserve-to-do-(whatever it is you would rather do)' mindset.  Then it becomes the backstabbing friend named, Itoldyoutogetitdone. 

I have been trying, albeit only in my mind, to find this blog for at least a year.   I put off the making the necessary changes for the email account it was attached to, when my job decided to use gmail for its company email.

There have been so many times when a subject would cross my mind and I thought, 'I'd love to write about that.  I could use my blog....'.  Then reality would set in and procrastination would wave its flags:  'You know you have to find that temporary email address and then try to log in.  You remember what happened the last time you tried that.  You never made it.  You don't have time to mess around with that.  You could be doing something else."  And so on. And so on. 

I have just spent an hour and half to finally arrive at this spot.  Writing in my blog again :)

Yes, it was worth it!  Ah, let me see what else I can conquer today!!!

One Year Can Make a Difference

Today I turned 51 years old. In a years time I have become more reflective on my life and the steps I have taken. While I cannot say I have a great deal of regrets, I can say that I have learned more about myself this year than I would have thought.

I have learned the importance of standing your ground when the results will lead to something positive. Everyone does not have to agree with your stand or support you in it. There are two important attributes of learning to stand, especially if you must stand solo. One, just because everyone agrees with you does not mean that they are right. By the same token, just because everyone disagrees with you does not mean that you are wrong. Two, whatever the cause of your stand you must be willing to accept the consequences; whatever they may be, good or bad.

I have learned that it is difficult to change latent bad habits and that these habits will fight you each step of the way as you strive to become different. I have a habit of starting a project with gusto, but loosing the gusto somewhere near the three-quarter completion mark. While this is not a habit to boost about, it seemed to be ok to do this with craft projects or other things which were for personal enjoyment. However, when this habit affects major life decisions it's lackadasically attributes are no longer benign. I am on a course of completion of something very big. And to say I am tired would be an understatement. I can say though, when I realized that this habit was trying to rear its face I also understood that I now had to stare it down. My course will be complete in a few months, and for once I will not be the one who couldn't take the stare and had to look away.

I have learned that sometimes the only way you know more about what you can do, is to be put in the position of sink or swim. By nature, I am not a swimmer. But I can say, without shame, that when the situation arose I learned how to thread water and stay afloat with energy to spare. Now that was both terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time!

I have learned more, but I will share more at a later time. I guess the overall lesson is that it is important to always be willing to learn, because in doing so you will also grow as a person.

Appreciating the Difference

In less than one hundred days I will be turning 50 years old. In the days leading up to the beginning of the one hundred day period I began reflecting on my life and thoughts of my childhood flooded into my mind. I remembered my mother and the life she lived. You see, my mother was a stay at home mother, who worked daily to make her home a warm and secure place for me. She was not a single mom; she was married to my dad. My dad, however, was not the doting type of husband. He was very authoritarian. This created a bondage of which I am sure many women can identify.

What I marvel at are the differences between our two lives. Though she never went many places, except for the functional ones, i.e., grocery stores, dad doctor's appointments and the occasional department store, my life operates quite the opposite. I am gone ninty percent of the time. While she only had a ninth grade education, she encouraged me to study hard and go to college. As she said, "Study hard so you can get a sit down job, like the white folks." As one who once worked in the homes of white folk in the late 50's and early 60's this was her dream. I went to college and graduated.

She became ill my junior year in college. Another dream of hers was to live long enough to see all of her children grown and on their own. (I was the youngest and only child from the union with my dad.) And so she did. I married shortly after college graduation, moved away and had children of my own. Three short years after I married she died.

As I reminesce, I realize that had it not been for the life she experienced I could not truly appreciate my life now. I have a wonderful husband, who supports me in every endeavor...and there have been many. He also trust me. I come and go as I please. My choice is not to abuse his trust or love. I try new things. I am enjoying my life. As I work towards my masters degree and am out late most evenings, spending a great deal of time tired, and rarely cooking. I realize I am living a life that my mother would have appreciated. It is the life she wanted for me. A life of meaning and purpose. (And yes, my job requires that I sit down.)

My Personal Learning Network

Personal Learning Networks force you to consider how you will manage your learning. Coming from one who has been accustomed to letting others dictate their learning, I can say without a doubt that this is work and required a concerted effort on my part to think through all of the processes I have been exposed to this summer.

I enjoyed my summer of learning and had a great deal of fun experimenting with some applications and an equal amount of frustrations working with others. Overall, though, my experience was a positive one. And one I would not have tried had it not been for EDUC689. I am much less apprehensive about trying new applications and have become more willing to take risk, at least with this. Risk in other areas is slowly coming also.

Take a look at my coverpage and learning network. I hope you enjoy it and become inspired to create your own, if you don't have one already. I commented on those that I will continue to use currently; the others will be used as the opportunity arises.

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2295263/PLN (this was fun to do!)

(To see inside the box, click inside and use the toggle arrows on your keyboard. You may also click to increase the magnification, before toggling. The purple represents every application I learned about this summer. The green bubbles are attached to the applications I will use regularly. The grey bubble is the questionable one.)



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