I am currently working on a blog entry about Max Lucato. I find his books to be very easy reads that are full of good stories and encouragement. I am also listening to Maya Angelou’s I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It amazes me how she has lived through a hard childhood but ended up writing autobiographies and poetry.
I am planning on starting a YouTube channel. I want to read some Christian classics, self-help classics, share encouraging quotes and discuss some of my own struggles with depression and life. The books in this picture are Pilgrim‘s Progress and a folk tale about three trees.
I have a small book shelf full of books that I have not read yet. I mostly have non-fiction Christian and self-help.
As a child, I wanted to become a doctor and go overseas as a missionary. I believed that God had called me to this dream job. I took biology with some side courses for pre-med. Then, the med students came by my lab class and talked about never studying before medical school. I think I had to study in every grade. I know that I studied in middle school and high school. Years before my step-father yelled “You’re too stupid to be a doctor.” I tried to argue back because I knew that I’d never forget him saying that. Sometimes, I thought about becoming a child psychologist in order to help other children who struggle like I did.
I never went to medical school because I discovered that I freeze up when in a crisis. A neighbor in my dorm building was in the bathroom sounding sick. I suggested that she take some medication and went down stairs in order to do laundry. When I passed back by, a man was standing outside of the restroom asking for help getting her unconscious body out of the restroom. Did I help? No. I stood frozen and had a bunch of negative thoughts. I couldn’t be a doctor or nurse. Someone tried to tell me that I could train enough to be able to function under high stress. I doubted it then and still doubt it.
While this dream died, I realized that the main part of the dream is the desire to help others. This desire is still very strong in my heart. Now, I hope I can use this blog to encourage others. I have read many encouraging books and quotes. Many of us have so much potential but we need a little encouragement in our darkest moments to keep from giving up. This is what I want to do for my readers.
Sometimes, a dream dies. But, the driving desire behind the dream lives on. So, I suggest that you ask yourself why a certain job is a dream job. You may find something else that fulfills that aching desire.
I have had this blog since 2018. I started this blog because I wanted to encourage others especially Christians who struggle with mental health issues.
Since I am a Christian who lives with depression, I think I have an interesting perspective in this area.
So my mission for this blog is to offer encouragement to my fellow Christians. I plan to do this by sharing my struggles and successes at times, discussing quotes from famous people, Bible study discussions, listing local resources and educational writing.
I called it Listeninghearts because I want to support and encourage my readers.
Since I have already blogged about my goals for 2024, I will share one that I didn’t mention in my previous post.
I moved into a nicer apartment last year. So, I pay more in rent now. So, I am going back to living on a budget.
I will try to reduce how much that I spend at Walmart. I will try to avoid buying more books or clothes. It is hard to say no when I see a cute short for a cheap price.
I will also be more careful about purchasing stuff on Amazon. Success in this goal will be seeing that I am spending less than I am earning. Then, my checking account will return to growing slowly until I transfer money into savings. I want my money to earn some interest or dividends too.
Ever since 2020, I have felt like every year is weird. One challenge that I have is my huge heart. When I read about people dying, I imagine what it must be like to be them. When the Ukraine-Russia war started, I imagined the fear and anger of the people. Now, I contemplate the struggles of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. So, I have to limit my news reading and listening at times in order to keep me from feeling overwhelmed. I have no idea how a God that knows all the suffering on our planet and loves all people can deal with it all. Yet, He allows it to continue. I hope He explains things to me when I get to heaven. I have asked why so many times in my prayers but He chooses to not answer me.
Another challenge for me is my negative thinking patterns. I find that when I make mistakes repeatedly I beat myself up mentally. But I will make mistakes when I work on learning something new. I posted a collection of quotes about making errors and learning from them a few days ago. I might post a quote from this at work in order to remind me to learn from mistakes and keep practicing the new skill.
I am very good at procrastinating and being lazy too. I was planning a special meal today but I got up too late to cook it since it is a slow cooker recipe. I enjoy reading books and sleeping very much. My brain loves to roam around as I fall asleep. So, I struggle to keep up on household chores and other adult responsibilities. My goal is to do a half hour of chores most days of the week in 2024. I also want to walk 15 minutes for most days in a week. My doctor recommended that I do this to help improve my health. It seemed like such a small thing which made me add it to my list of resolutions.
I’d make a great cat.
I love to eat sweets way too much. Since diabetes runs in my family, I know that I need to watch how much I eat and eat healthier in the new year. My plan is to eat more vegetables and fruits and watch serving sizes.
What are your challenges and plans to work on them during this new year?
