Visualization:

I’m in a meeting at work taking notes. I ask a few questions, provide some input to the conversation. After the meeting I confirm my assignments and due dates via email and I feel so happy and productive. I love sending those confirmation emails and then using them for my to-do list.

Memory:

Sometimes I’ll walk out of my way just to pass by my favorite neighborhood library. So many happy memories there. In 1993, I was at the main library in BK, running my fingers along the spines of books and randomly plucking one off the shelf to take home. I remember sitting on the floor looking through the DVD collection circa 2004, and finding Sex and the City. I remember taking my children there circa 2000. and going there to use the computer just last week. Happy times.

Tho I have to admit that I didn’t go to the library much in college even though I lived right next door to it. It was so HUGE and imposing. I think it intimidated me. I went there when I had to look for journal articles, but never for pleasure.

As soon as I graduated and moved to New York, I went straight to the main library—which is big and intimidating and signed up. I’ve been a regular library goer ever since. 14 hours ago

Memory

This just happened the other day. I was in the kitchen seasoning the soup. DH was standing next to me. I put in a seasoning he says he doesn’t like, but I’ve been putting in his food for years—teehee. I wasn’t sure if he saw me, but I laughed and told him. He tried to see the seasoning I had in my hand, so I changed hands and then threw it into the cabinet hoping that it would mix in with the dozens of other seasonings I have up there. He pulled it out. It was mustard powder. He swears he HATES mustard and I’ve been using it for years. LOL…he were laughing. I’d like to remember that funny moment.

Visualization

It’s three years form now and I’m wearing my boyfriend jean shorts (to the knees) and a striped t-shirt, and it’s a little wet outside so I have on rain boots and a white sweatshirt. I’m in FANTASTIC shape from proper diet and exercise. And I’m taking a relaxing walk around the botanic garden. I’ve been having this vision lately. 1 week ago

Memory

Two weeks ago I’m sitting with my class during a break. J is to my left, D to my right and JT is across from me and we’re all in the lobby studying for a test that turned out to be SO easy. I think the weather was cool and rather dreary. the water cooler is to the far left. B comes over and pours himself a cup, but doesn’t sit down.

Visualization

I’m in my dream kitchen high on a stool peeling vegetables for the nights dinner. Nearby is my writing nook where I go to add posts here on 43things, to work on an article or a story. I’m also running around doing other things to get to bed by 10 pm. I have a full and wonderful life! 4 weeks ago

One of the things I’ve often read in self help literature is that if you want to know what you should be doing now, go back and reflect on what you wanted to do as a kid.

I know it’s probably hard to believe, but as a kid I had no dreams, no aspirations other than to do well with what was before me right then and there…I guess I was the personification of the Biblical verse: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” and I wanted to leave the town where I grew up, other than that I had no vision.

Now, after knowing how important having a vision is, I’m working hard to really develop them. Pictures and movies have helped me tremendously. I think the reason I didn’t have images in my head is because I was word focused I was from 1978 when I started to read as my main form of entertainment until we purchased a DVR and I started watching more movies in 2004.

All of that work prior to 2004, all of that back breaking work I did but could never be proud of or feel good about because I was not sure if it was either what I wanted to do or had to do as part of my overall vision and purpose. I felt like all I did always went right down the drain. I can take credit for it now on 43Ts which is a good thing.

So now I’ve had close to 10 years of practice. I’m ready to Rock N’ Roll

“To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death.”

Pearl S. Buck

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.”

- Helen Keller 4 weeks ago

We were at Ikea during the heatwave of 2010. I was SO hot and we were in the office section that was like nothing but window floor to ceiling. I sat down at a desk with a fake computer keyboard and pretended to type. And I imagined myself in a trendy office with lots of windows and light near where my accountant’s office is.

I didn’t even remember this until I was walking today. I’m working exactly where I imagined I’d be 2 years ago. The office itself is cube sized and it doesn’t overlook water, but the water is very nearby.

I always imagined myself working in a small homey, non pressure cooker environment. It’s not like I consciously WANTED this, it’s what I imagined. Fifteen years ago, I saw myself putting together a magazine in a small office. I realized that vision circa 2008. And now I’m experiencing the trendy office vision from Ikea. 11 months ago

Visualization:

I’m imagining that I’m looking at a pay check from a job that is not at all a strain to keep, similiar to G, but with people who also enjoy the work and want to be there.

Memory:

It’s December 2003, A has a night job and I go to the bookstore an buy like 6 romance novels and I stay up late reading. I haven’t done that since then and perhaps never will again. 16 months ago

One of my challenges has been assigning a beginning, middle and an end to my goals. If there is no end date, then the obligation is still there. I have five entries. I think five days is enough to consider this goal complete. If I think of something else I can always ressurrect. 22 months ago

Vision:

I’m currently trying to work through a stubborn tangle at work. I see myself figuring it out.

Memory:

For reference sake: There are three of us. JJ is the oldest; Awesome Sister is next, almost exactly two year his junior, and I am “the baby” at 18 months younger. We forged great friendships growing up, which continue to this day.

For as far back as I can remember, my brother was a huge fan of the western author Louis L’Amour, and he had a pretty impressive collection of books for a young kid. Those books were his most prized possession, and in traditional older-brother fashion, he absolutely forbade us to touch them. This, of course, made them all the more intriguing. My sister enjoyed reading them – I liked the thrill of pilfering them. In fact, for several years I kept a stash of Louis L’Amour books at the ready, and whenever I needed to increase my stock with JJ, I’d produce a book and say, “I found this book of yours; someone must have taken it from your room.” Devious or not, it saved my bacon many times when he was in a particularly foul mood, and always kept me in his good graces.

Awesome Sister, as I said, actually enjoyed reading the books and pinched them one or two at a time, read them through, and replaced them in his bookcase before the were discovered missing. One summer afternoon, she was in the backyard reading under a tree, and I knew it was one of his books in which her nose was buried. As a joke, I sneaked out the back door, hid behind a book, and in my best JJ imitation voice thundered, “What are you doing with that book? Give it back!” She jumped like she’d been shot, I gave myself away from laughing too loud, and about the time we were both laying on the grass laughing our fool heads off, we heard the back door slam. JJ walked up the hill, never saying a word, a smile twinkling in his eye, stopped by Awesome Sister and put his hand out. We were confused for a minute, but then he explained: “It’s summer, you goof! The windows were open!!” We all three had a good laugh over it, and he let her finish the book. She didn’t let me forget that little snafu all summer – sometimes in my eagerness to carry off a nefarious plot, I still fail to find the fatal flaw… 23 months ago

Vision:

I can see myself tomorrow getting alot accomplished for T. I’m going to first put forth one hour of uninterupted work to finish the TS project, then I’m going to email AT to set up a meeting for early next week. Next I’ll work on making the corrections the KH project,which I will submit on Monday. I could have done all of the above today, however I’m not going to rush to get these projects in, but will find a nice steady SUSTAINABLE pace. That is my vision to work smarter, not harder. I envision doing one more project every month until build up to about 10 without too much strain. When I’m at that point, I’ll get another client and so forth. I’m closing my eyes and imagining myself opening the checks at the beginning of each month. Delicious!

Memory:

Many years ago-probably more than six or seven years by now-I discoverd an online group of like minds through yahoo and signed up. One of the moderators had an internet radio show and one night I tuned into the show and listened to her interview a guest. It was such a profound interview I still remember parts of it. I didn’t have a laptop then so I sat at a desk with a single light burning until the wee hours of the morning just listening… 23 months ago

I’m remembering a day when my grandmother still lived with us. I was in college, and we were on a break so the whole day stretched before me gloriously, blissfully free.

In the course of the morning, Grandma mentioned that she’d never played putt-putt golf. I was aghast! So we decided to make a day of it. Off we went to The Clubhouse, and the first time she teed off WHACK! she sent that green ball sailing off the course… over the fence… into the parking lot… bouncing off a car… and landing at the other side. Who knew my grandma had all the power of Tiger Woods?! We laughed til our sides hurt and we had to breathe in great gasps… I’m laughing now writing this – the look on her face was priceless!

After successfully completing the course through the windmill, under the giraffe and around the moat, we headed to the mall for another first. Fun photos in a kiosk photo booth! Every day when I get to work, a younger version of myself and Grandma smile impishly up at me from a photo with a border that says “Perfect Angels.”
In the intervening fourteen years the whole world has changed, and Alzheimer’s has erased that day and even y own face from Grandma’s mind. It lives on in mine, however, and remains one of my favorite memories with the kindest, most godly woman I have ever known. 23 months ago

Vision:

Tomorrow I see myself getting up, exercising. I see myself going to do my volunteer work and completing the two articles I started this week and started a 3rd. I see myself going to the grocery store for ingredients for a new recipe I found tonight. . I see myself returning a book to the library before it closes.

Memory:

It was 2004 and there was this romantic comedy playing at a theatre that I think mostly plays independent films. I’m not even sure where the film is but I’m sure I wrote about it in my journal.

I planned ahead of time to go to see this film. I arranged to leave work early. I remember I was wearing a light blue jacket and while I waited for the film to begin (I got there early) I read a hilarious article called “My Cheatin’ Art” that I remember almost verbatim.

That’s all I remember tho. I might have gone home and been overwhelmed with children and writing etc, but from what I can remember, it was a great day. 23 months ago

Visualization:
Tonight is church, so I see myself walking into the room, seeing H there, and having a lovely chat.

Memory:
I remember the firs time I met JC. I had been at my new job for a month and had talked with him on the phone for the first time that morning. He handled the IT side of things and worked in a separate building from me. We all had a meeting with a vendor who was making our boss crazy, and as I walked into the conference room, there he was. There were two men I had never met, but I knew instinctively which was JC. First thing I noticed after his startling blue eyes: His watch was on military time. Must have a military background. Indeed he did. We connected immediately, and shot each other laughing looks during the meeting when both our boss and the vendor were being especially ridiculous.

Although nothing ever happened romantically, little did I know I had just met one of the best friends I would ever need. 1 year ago

Visualization:
I can see myself walking into a zenny spa for a massage. I’ll leave in a state of absolute bliss, and go to one of my favorite coffee shops where I’ll write for a few hours while sipping my hot drink. Afterward, I’ll go home, have a quiet dinner, and spend the evening on the back patio drinking in the beautiful sunset and a good book. When I go to bed, I’ll slip into a deep sleep and wake up refreshed.

Memory:
There is a train caboose in Gettysburg, PA that has been knocking around in my head all day. I remember a visit to Gettysburg – I couldn’t have been more than seven years old – when my siblings and I crawled up into the caboose commemorating President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and our mom snapped a picture of me leaning from the back of it. I was wearing a jean jacket (my sister and I had matching jean jackets with ruffled trim), and had an iodine mark in my leg from a scratch I’d picked up from who-knows-where. Yeeeears later, my mom and I happened to spend a night in Gettusburg, and took another photo of the same pose on the same train. Gettysburg remains the setting for some of my favorite childhood memories. 1 year ago

Vizualization:

Today I can see myself walking to the grocery store with the newspaper in my bag. I’m going to read it while I wait in line. I’m going to go to the library to write, then home for lunch. I’ll write again and then rest until daughter comes home. She’ll eat her dinner, then we’ll leave again for a play at her school. I’ll read the paper and a new book I started reading last night until the play gets started. Then the lights will dim and I’ll be swept away by all of that young talent up on the stage working so hard to remember their lines. Then we’ll leave. I’ll read again on the way home. At home, I’ll cross the play off of my list of things to do and feel great about it.

Memory:

I remember once, probaby two or three years ago, standing on the corner of _ street in CG, after my daughter’s PT session. My son and daughter were with me and we were getting ready to get on the train and head home. Nothing special happened. We probably stood at that same corner 20, 30, 50 times waiting to cross. It’s a wonderful neighborhood bustling with businesses, restaurants and lots of baby strollers.

There were times when it was freezing cold and my son would complain while we waited on the corner for the lights to change and some times it would be so hot the sprinklers would be on at a nearby park. When we first started going there in fact, I took the kids over to that park to play. It’s been so long since then that they don’t play in parks anymore, they’re more into organized sports ie basketball, track, rugby and football. Well, when it’s 90 degrees my daughter likes the sprinklers, but that’s it.

I don’t stand on that corner anymore with the children anymore. So, it is now part of my memories. That street, of course, is still there and I’ll walk down it again, but it won’t be the same. And I’m not complaining, trust me, I have no complaints! 1 year ago

Imagining how my day will go. Imagining myself getting dressed and grooming and then going to work. I’m imagining myself walking down the street and feeling wonderful as it’s a beautiful spring morning. I get into work and smiile and greet everyone. The work is boring, but I feel good about it and make it interesting. I closely observe my surroundings so that I’m constantly learning, learning, learning.

When I go to pick up my daughter from track practice, I take with me a magazine and a newspaper. I become engrossed in them both and the train ride seems to take only minutes. I walk from the train station to her school again enjoying the view of the water, the warm spring day. I stop by the library to see if any of the books I ordered are on hold. Even if they aren’t I’m still feeling the pleasure of being in one of my favorite places—the public library. I continue on to my daughter’s school and I wait for her outside again becoming engrossed in my newspapar/magazine or book I recieved from the library. When track practice is over, I’m happy to see my daughter. I take her to the store for something to drink and then we head home….

Memory—(this is as best as I can remember, but it’s been 20 years so…)I’m in college with a group of friends and we’re feverishly studying for a test that is the next day. We haven’t been studying, but between all of us we have all of the notes. Only since we haven’t been to class, they are hard to decipher. On someone’s notes they have something about a chemical and an arrow pointing up and fish with an arrow pointing down. We puzzle over it and finally someone said. “Oh when this chemical was introduced into the water, the fish died.” We all agreed, yes that was what those notes meant. We all passed the test.

I didn’t give myself a pat on the back, so I will do that now. Good job! Of course I should have been studying and going to class every day, however I put in a good 20 hours of studying to make up for it! 2 years ago

I was taking an early morning walk today and I was thinking back over the years that I’ve lived in this neighborhood. Since 1997, 14 years and while I can’t vividly remember any single events that stand out in my mind, I feel wonderful about having lived here. I tend to remember generalities. Like this is where I used to take the children to the park every afternoon, but I can’t vividly recall one afternoon in particular. So one day memories aren’t good for me. Having good habits and rituals, that works for me. It feels good to walk by the library and know that I spent many, many hours of my life their reading to my children, getting on the computer, writing etc—even if I can’t recall all these times. Still the good feeling persists.

Now in terms of visualizing, we’re going to visit a museum tonight. It’s a monthly family ritual. I’m going to sit back right now and imagine how it will go. We’ll take the train, get off and walk. We’ll pass by a school, then cross a pretty big street to get to the museum. Outside of the museum there’s a fountain where I’ve taken the children quite a few times in the summer. The fountain will probably not be on yet as it’s not summer time yet. The doors to the museum will be open and a band will be playing in the lobby. We’ll go in and go to the visitor’s desk to try to get a ticket to take the free art class. That’s all I can vividly envision right now… 2 years ago