Focus: Learning

One of my focus words for this year is "learning". I'm taking a holistic approach to learning. This means I am learning in many different areas.

Intellectual: I'm currently reading a fascinating book titled Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. It is about the central bankers of the US, England, France, and Germany who were in charge of their respective countries' central banks in the years between WWI and the Great Depression. The similarities between that time and 2008-present are quite eery--out-of-control spending, lending, inflated values of commodities, etc. For the most part the book is an easy read in not being over technical, but I do wish that I remembered more of my Econ 101 that I took my freshman year at BYU. Ah, but that leads into another learning opportunity.

Physical: For the most part I do a pretty good job at taking care of my physical body. But this year I am going to be more intentional in my eating, trying harder to incorporate more veggies into my diet. For some reason, eating my veggies seems to be a difficult thing for me. I am also trying restorative yoga...again. I don't like yoga. It hurts and I can never "stay in the moment" and "use my breath" the right way. But restorative is a little less intense and focuses more on stretching. It still hurts. My hamstrings are so tight! But I'm going to do my best to stick with it and maybe even learn to like it.

Hobbies: I'm branching out here. Most of my hobbies revolve around either reading or physical exercise. But Dave gave me a fancy digital-SLR camera for Christmas and I need to learn how to use it so it's not just some fancy point and shoot. I've signed up for a "camera basics" class through the Parks and Rec Dept. I'm going to be taking it with a friend who also got a fancy, schmancy camera for Christmas.

Professional: Probably the one area where I really should set some learning goals. The closest I am going to get here is learning about contract negotiations. I am an at-large board member representing Special Services on our local education association. This year our contract is up for negotiation. I've never been involved in a contract negotiation so there will be a steep learning curve for this process. But I am determined to learn, to be thoughtful, and to speak up even if I am in the minority.

Spiritual: I will continue to focus on learning more about following God's plan for me and being a leader (what does that even mean?) I will continue to study about grace and seek to understand that principle better. I also want to learn more about other denominations, not to see if I'm missing something in mine, but so that I can learn the best way to stand with them as we defend Christianity in the last days.

I am hopeful that this will be a fulfilling year and I won't get to next December and feel like I wasted another year.