Gilgamesh and the Restless Desires of Your Heart

I have a couple of goals/projects that I would like to tackle. Stuff I have been thinking about for a long time, but have not done anything about yet. I often find that I am second guessing myself . . . it’s too difficult . . . where do I start . . . it’s a crazy idea . . . you get the drift. And yet, deep in my soul, I have always felt that God would not have given me these ideas if I was not capable of executing them. Call me crazy but I really feel that conceiving the idea in your head is the first step to success. That you can think it means you are capable of doing it.

Last night, I was reading the “Epic of Gilgamesh” (for the first time) and I have to admit that I felt validated that the great hero Gilgamesh felt the same way too. When Gilgamesh feels very strongly that he has to conquer Humbaba, he calls out to the god Shamash for blessings. Shamash asks him why he feels the need to take up this challenge. Gilgamesh responds, “If this enterprise is not to be accomplished, why did you move me, Shamash, with the restless desire to perform it?”.

And so it is with all of us. If you have goals that are swirling around in your head and filling your dreams at night, if you have a restless desire to do something then listen to your mind and soul and take the first step. That you thought about it means that the hard work is already done. The rest you will figure out along the way, one step at a time.

Here is My Goal, What's yours?

I love Easter for so many reasons first of which is that it reminds me of the cross without which I would not have hope and zeal for this gift of life that I have been given. I also love all the spring colors and beautiful weather. It is another opportunity to get together with family and friends which is always enriching. Like Red Jade mentioned in her previous post we had a blast this Sunday. Amidst the stories and laughter we discussed why we struggle with discipline and we decided we will hold each other accountable as we each try to attain to a specific goal.

My goal is to learn how to sew well. I have dabbled with sewing in the past and have always wanted to take it seriously and use it as a creative outlet. To raise the bar of accountability, I plan to post a picture of something I have made by the end of May. I hope to make clothes (simple patterns to start with), make curtains, do some embroidery and make pillows. I would love to hear from you if you want to join me in this challenge. When I first came to the United States I was surprised at all the opportunities for do-it-yourself projects. I am learning that using my hands to create something is very therapeutic and will help me build a valuable skill. You never know....maybe we will be competing on Project Runway someday:-)

Here are some of the resources I will be using
http://www.sewing.org/index.html
http://studiokatdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.newdressaday.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHVxpLGmhVk

A Powerful Way To Develop Discipline

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I had a great time at Rafiki’s house – probably too much of a good time. The late lunch that started at 3:00pm did not end until 10:30pm! Good food, great friends, lots of laughter, stimulating conversation – a good time all around.

One of the conversations centered on the challenges we experience of maintaining discipline to do the things that we want to do. Turns out each of us has certain goals but progress has been painfully slow.

Everyone admitted that their goal was not difficult - we just need to get it done. One of our friends suggested that we need to hold each other accountable so that we can support each other. Everyone enthusiastically agreed and we came up with this accountability plan:

1. Everyone(group of six) stated a goal that they were willing to work on and report progress every week.
2. Once a week we will have short conference call, where we will each report on what we did regarding the stated goal.
3. The team will decide if each person’s report is acceptable i.e. did you actually accomplish something that week.
4. If you fail to do anything that week then you have to pay a penalty of $50.
5. Any penalties collected will go to charity.

For my goal, I committed to wake up at 7am every morning. Typically, I get up at 8am because I sleep pretty late, around 1 or even 2am. And I need my 8 hours of sleep to function properly. This means that usually I don’t get enough sleep. It also means that I waste a lot of time during the day because once I come home from work, I am too tired to do much.

I figure if I can get up at 7am, I can accomplish a couple of things before I go to work and therefore have a more productive day. To accomplish this it means that I have to go to bed much earlier than I have been used to, say 11pm. It’s now after midnight so I am one hour past my bedtime. Time to get ready for bed, set that clock for 7am and hit the sack. If nothing else, I am not trying to pay $50.

So has anyone tried something like this before? We would love to hear how you develop and maintain discipline.

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