This is Day 18 of the 21-Day Journaling Challenge held in Nov 2011. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Hi everyone – Welcome to Day 18 of 21DJC! :)
Closing of 21DJC and Year End Challenge for 2011
Just a quick note that we only have 3 days left till the end of our 21-Day Journaling Challenge. We started on Nov 7, and 2.5 weeks have already passed by since. I hope all of you are gaining valuable insights from the journaling, because I know I definitely am.
On Nov 27, which is this Sunday, 21DJC will come to a close. A few short days after that, we will be launching right into our highly anticipated Live a Better Life in 30 Days – the premium, 30-day life development course at PE. Started since Sep ’10, we’ve since had 3 successful runs of 30DLBL, and Dec ’11 will be the 4th official run of the course. This will be *the* challenge for us to close off 2011 and start off 2012 with a big bang.
You must definitely not miss this. I’ll be opening for sign ups very soon (in a couple of days), so stay tuned. Make sure you’re on the newsletter so you’ll get the announcement directly in your inbox.
Day 17 Review
Yesterday’s question was: “If The World Came To An End Today, How Would You Feel?“. (Read the responses.)
With year 2012 coming up in less than 40 days, I thought it would be an interesting question to ponder upon. 2012 has been commonly associated with the end of the world, and while I personally do not believe the world will end in 2012, I think it’s still something worthwhile to consider.
If the world came to an end today, I would first feel sad, because the immediate thought was I would not be able to continue pursuing my purpose (in the current form). I’m experiencing so much joy doing it that I don’t want it to ever end. And certainly not via the expiration of the very civilization I’ve devoted my life to serving, too. That would be very devastating to me.
That said, I understand that whatever will be, will be. If the world was to truly end today, there must be a good reason behind it. For every ending, there is a new beginning, and I believe there will be new things in store for all of us ahead. I personally believe the human spirit lives on after death, so I’m not too hung up about issues concerning life and death.
For what it’s worth, if the world does indeed come to an end, it probably means we (as a civilization) have finished fulfilling whatever we are meant to achieve (when the world was first created) and that it’s time to move on to the next stage in our evolution. So that’s actually a very good thing, and something to look forward to.
With that said, let’s now move to today’s question!
21DJC Day 18
Today is the 4th last day of 21DJC, and the 4th last question of the challenge. Today’s question is:
What Matters Most To You?
Having lived X years of your life, what would you say are the things that matter most to you? Is it money? Is it material possessions? Is it spending time with your loved ones? Is it seeing the smile on their faces? Is it seeing the sun rise every day? Is it good health? Is it achieving your goals with excellence? Is it being the best person you can be? Is it to live to the fullest?
Your Task Today:
- Reflect and answer today’s question. There’s no word limit – whether minimum or maximum. Write as few or as many words as you want. It’s all up to what you want to express!
- Share your answer. After you are done writing, copy and paste your answer in the comments area and post it there.
- Check out other participants’ answers. Other participants will be sharing their answers too, so feel free to read and reply to their answers. This is a group course, so let’s support each other in these 21 days.
((Images: Empty book for journaling, Sunrise))
My life
My daughter
My parents
My siblings
My colleagues
My friends
Everyone that meets my path in life
Following is what matters to me the most
a. My family & friends – their well being and happiness [including mine]
b. My career
c. Being in peace with myself
d. Learning new things everyday
e. Living life with my core values
f. Being in action each moment to accomplish my goal
Things that matter to me most are:
– My loved ones, especially my family & close friends, their health & happiness
– Myself being healthy and happy
– Making best of what I have
– Achieving my goals
– Spreading love and kindness
– Hanging out and spending time with my family & friends
– Having enough money for my expenses
Being there for my family, especially my children a support for all the difficulties they face in life, helping them to care showing them warmth love and compassion. Guiding them gently but firmly and positively in a direction that will make them strong caring individuals capable of understanding and motivating them to improve not only themselves but the lives of others.
It is through experiences that we develop and change our perspective on life. To live my life and experience as much as I can, reflect on what I have learnt and inspire others to do the same – the good experiences which make me grow. We are only limited by our thoughts.
Live it to the fullest.
The ideal life that I want to live is to have no regrets.
Do all the things i want to do, love all the people I want to love, and live a best life!
LOVE –
– being loved by God
– able to love my family and nearest and dearest
– able to be there for those not close to me, but definitely my neighbours and to help them onto a better road
FREEDOM OF FAITH –
– being able to choose which faith I adhere to and make it my own
– not being forced to believe something in order to survive
HEALTH –
– enjoying relative good health; the only ‘health’ issues are related to stress and poor eating habits and lack of exercise
KIDS –
– actually having them is such a blessing as there are so many people unable to do so
– having kids without disabilities and learning difficulties is another huge blessing
#1 for sure – Safety. Singapore has a low crime rate, no tsunamis/earthquakes/floods. Sure, there are flash floods, but they only last for a few minutes to an hour at most. Even then I’m not affected.
#2 – is my loved ones. Includes my family and friends. Knowing that I’m appreciated and value is really a good feeling.
#3 – helping other people. I’ve realised I’ve been constantly bringing up my blog in 21DJC. Let me bring GLB up again. GLB lets me reach out to other people, so I’m really glad that I thought of the idea of creating a blog.
All the best with your GLB blog, Amanda! You are starting early. Your parents have done a good job! :hug:
What matters most to me is knowing that I am appreciated and valued. Knowing that I matter to someone, that I can bring happiness and joy to someone.
My love ones, especially my parents, wife and child are safe and happy.
Proving to myself that I am smart, intelligent, kind, articulate, humourous, fun to be with and worthy of people’s attention and care.
I mean something to others that I am not just another face. Knowing that people care and value me.
Proving to myself that I can overcome my shortcomings and become a stronger, better me.
Not beating myself up at every incident and event.
My health and well-being matters most to me because being a whole person with respect, dignity, integrity, self-worth, and self-sustainability means surviving all the trials and tribulations in this world. A healthy body, mind, and spirit keeps us going in life with success with the help of God, Our Father, Our Creator. We are a functional person to the point that we could enjoy life with day to day activities. The rest will be taken cared so well such as family, relatives, friends, pets, our livelihood (jobs) and “things to do”. We also learn more and more about God, how His love is so infinite and unconditional for us.
My children and brother, my lover, and living life to the best we can be and as close as we can be.
1. Getting “right” with my Creator. A life lived otherwise is a life lived with insufficient gratitude… a suboptimal state.
2. Being the best dad and husband I can be.
3. Being a positive contribution to the world (people/environment), my friends, people I meet.
4. Meeting my full potential/being my best self.
These are role- or responsibility-focused, which may sound bad, but I take pride in doing what I’m supposed to do well.
I tend to see other things (health, fun, enjoyment, money, recreation, etc.) as things that keep me sharp and strong so that I can meet these higher responsibilities.
This one is simple for me. My philosophy is simple- if you get the big things right, the small things will automatically fall into place.
There are only two things that matter the most to me:
1. Keeping my loved ones happy.
2. Living life, so I never regret NOT trying, or worrying about “what-ifs”. :dance:
My husband, my pets, and my family are extremely important to me, and I try to spend time with them whenever I can.
My career and goal-setting are also important. I always feel lost if I have just one day off, so I always try to keep my goals in mind so I can make the most of my time.
Creativity is very important as well – painting, drawing, playing the piano, baking – I love to do all of these things whenever I can.
And finally, myself and who I am as a person is most important – honesty, integrity, hard work and compassion are all things I consistently strive for.
I care very much for many things such as life itself, my good health and my good fortune to live in these, the best of all times in history. The thing I care most about is my freedom and good fortune to live in America.
The things that matter most to me would be:
My family and friends and their health and happiness
Living as authentic a life as possible within the constraints of modern day life
Staying as true to myself and my principles as I can
Being a passionate and yet respectful person
Being healthy and happy
Being able to go to the gym for “me” time
Having a great sex life
Giving back with love and affection for those who’s lives I touch every day
My home
My three beautiful cats
I’m sure there are many more things that matter to me but these are just a handful that I can come up with right now.
Being a fellow cat lover, I think it’s great that the cats made the list :)
Many things matter to me, all are equally important. They are not material things and you can’t buy them with money. Possessions come and go, we never really own them. I like one of Steve Jobs’ quote “you came here with nothing and you will leave with nothing.”
* My faith – making peace with myself and my Maker, knowing that I am not alone, that there is a higher power who loves me and teaches me to give love to all beings and things on this earth, no matter from which religion they come from.
* Family – they are the closest to me and whatever I do in my life will affect them in some way or other. They support me and love me unconditionally and vice versa.
* Friends – they are almost like family except that we do not have blood ties. They, too support and love me unconditionally and I, them.
* Living my life with purpose, reaching to my higher self – I want to come to the end of my life when I breathe my last breath knowing in my heart that I have served and given of my very best, that which have been called for me to do.
* That I will leave this world a better place – in some small ways, someone, somewhere have benefited from what I can contribute to this world. I am not Steve Jobs who has made a huge contribution to our lives and will be remembered for generations to come. There’s no need to remember me. But I know that I can make a difference. I am hopeful. I am a works-in-progress.
Have a great day, guys, and hugs to everybody :hug:
Hi Asni,
All the important things in your life match mine absolutely !!!
I suppose great minds think alike… even if we are miles away…..
So wish you and all of us, good health, love, serenity, happiness…
Lots of Love,
Kalpana
solid
Glorifying the Creator
Living my life In-Spirit according to my Divine purpose
Inspiring others
Revolutionizing systems of thought, medicine, technology…
Important scientific breakthroughs that bring us closer to our ultimate questions
Living my unique identity
Understanding the way people think
Scientific research
Conserving nature
Self-mastery, self-actualization
The things that matter most to me are:
My daughters. The bright spots in my life.
Friends and family whom I love.
Happiness and love.
The ability to earn a living.
Having gone through my experiences and from all the time I’ve spent thinking and meditating about life, the world, and just everything, what matters most to me is to be authentic. To be honest, to be someone who other people can believe in, to make a difference in other people’s lives.
To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, I wish to be the change I wish to see in the world. I hold myself to my own standards to act better towards others as I wish others would behave towards myself. What matters is my ideals of how to treat other people and I know if I go against these ideals, I would lose respect for myself and would likely go into a downward spiral of how hypocritical I have behaved.
By following my principles and living my life adhering to them, I give myself a clear path of how to make decisions when I am given difficult choices. By doing so, I choose to free my mind from worrying about many things. I assure my mind is free (for the most part) from guilt, regret, and indecision.
As long as my principles are sound and true, then I will have no doubts that I have done the best I can.
Staying healthy matters most to me. I want to do what it takes to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I can. Everything else is secondary.
Good health, love, serenity, happiness
My family and friends matter most to me. But if it were to be inanimate, then my notebooks and pencils.
Saying what I mean & meaning what I say.
“I said what I meant. And I meant what I said. And elephant’s faithful 100 percent.”
-Dr Seuss (smart guy)
Enabling those around me to feel safe, and loved, and to grow in some way is what matters the most to me. I call it my “preschool philosophy”. I attempt to have each of my interactions resemble a realy talented preschool teacher and a child. In short, I try to focus genuinely on the person/people I am with, to really hear them, to praise their strengths and help them grow in those areas where perhaps they are not so strong, but to never lose sight of the other people that are traveling in my orbit. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not, and sometimes I fail dismally. But, I find that most people resemble those preschoolers in that they will give me another chance to redeem myself.
What matter the most to me is to love, being loved and keep learning.
The daily activities I consider most important to achieve my purposes are:
stay healthy, eat well, sleep well, live in the present moment, writing to express myself, contribute to social community and general life evolution, being good with people and all creation.
Learn to forgive and be respectful of others point of views.
Exercise my body, especially with yoga.
Exercise my mind, with good readings and meditation.
Exercise both, with good sex, travelling and having fun.
Try to give my best effort in every situation.
Being humble and ambitious.
Being honest.
Just be.
My wife and my family.
My home and garden – our haven and sanctuary and the place where we spend most of our leisure time. My home is where I have my piano, my music studio, library, kitchen, family areas and comfortable furniture.
My health and fitness. An earlier question from this Journalling challenge reminded me of the importance of the senses. I wear glasses and EYESIGHT is of extreme importance to me. I value my HEARING, my ability to TASTE, SMELL and touch.
Having an income and sufficient posessions to make the most of life. We have nearly paid off our home and I value owing real estate as it is home to my family. My daughters can be secure knowing they have a place to live and call “home”. I am not obsessed about money and being super-rich, but need a certain amount of income in order to live and support my family. I should add that my wife works as well, and my daughters have part-time jobs.
Having sufficient leisure time to pursue my interests of music, film, and reading.
Having access to a variety of fresh food and clean water so I can enjoy healthy meals. This relates back to the earlier “what matters” – my health and fitness.
Having time away from work so I can enjoy holidays, short trips and chill-out time.
Making the most of each day. Each day is a daily gift of time and not to be wasted.
Seize the day! (Carpe diem).
Caring and helping others. Giving back to the community, and coaching others using my skills and experience.
Continuous improvement and growth. The Japanese have a term Kaizen which means continual improvement. I continue to seek new ways to improve and to apply to my life. I learn about “Lifehacks”, “Mindhacks” and Personal Excellence (of course!) in order to grow as well as pass on to others.
I am sure there are many other things which matter to me but these came to mind first.
Charles
Nice one Charles! You’ve mentioned a number of things I’d completely forgotten when writing mine, such as health and fitness.
Thanks Glenn,
I will be interested to see what other people write then I will be reminded to write some more.
Charles
CARPE DIEM!!! I couldn’t support this idea more!!
Very well worded and thought out as well :)
Raven
Well Said Charles. :)
I love your comment. It’s all the basics, the simple things that make life all warm and fuzzy that matter.
What matters most to me.
At this moment in time I can think of a number of things to list here.
To start off with, I can’t go without saying my wife and the other people in life I care about. Those who will always show me support when I need it, and for whom I would do the same for.
And of course being the person I need to be, or being the best person I can be also matters most to me. To me this means being a caring and respectful person, happy to share whatever I have learned with others. If I see someone struggling with something I am very familiar with myself, I will be happy to offer them advice. This also embodies being kind towards animals, birds, fish, instects and all other living creatures on this planet, doing my best to ensure no actions I take will cause any harm to them.
Being this person also very much means being someone able to make all my own decisions based on the truth, questioning anything we’re being told by advertising, society in general, the media, the medical community, corporations or others in power. I don’t appreciate being lied to, so the truth is most important to me. Being aware of the truth enables me to make more empowered decisions.
Continually raising my standards and conciousness level also matter most to me.
Freedom of course matters most to me too. It’s possibly the biggest reason I could never go back to a day job working for a company or boss. Although sadly, even without a boss, with taxes still to pay and all kinds of restrictions, we can never be 100% free and still be able to enjoy all the perks of this modern day lifestyle. But just being able to live a life of considerable freedom without a boss telling me what to do, when I’m allowed to eat, or at what time I’m allowed to go home and so on, is enough for me. And also the freedom to do what I enjoy when I want. Based on my finances of course :)
This leads onto the final thing I’ll be listing here as what matters most to me, and that’s being able to make a living doing what I love the most. Currently this would be any of the creative work I do. This may take some time to perfect, but I’m getting there.
With all that I’ve listed here, to be honest they all matter to me the most just as much as one another. Although a couple may be perceived as being goals, to me I see them more as necessities.
Glenn,
I just wanted to say that I give you a lot of credit for attempting to be your own boss and do your own freelance or business as it sounds like you are here. It takes a lot of courage, strength, guts and just plain leap out their faith to get away from the person handing out the paycheck and make it on your own. I too have just with-in the last year begun to try to make my living from doing what I love rather than taking jobs that corrupt what I love until I don’t even love it anymore. It is both rewarding and a “business end of things hassle” to be ones own boss. The freedoms you win do come with responsibilities you never would have foreseen.lol
But I wish you the best of luck as I too try to work out the balance of being able to fully support oneself doing what one loves and I do believe it is possible so keep up the good work!!
Raven!!
In 21 years what matters most to me:
My family, the humans and non-humans,
My values, honour, integrity, compassion, freedom, and more,
My community, from local to worldwide,
To lay down at night and know that I have made the best out of each day.
My children’s well being.
Peace within myself.
My photos because they tell a story of a special time in my life.
My possessions that people have made for me, such as a wooden jewelry box.
To know my family and friends are okay or maybe they are a bit happier because of me.
Having financial security without having to have the stress of not being able to pay bills.
Taking each day and trying to learn from any good or bad experience that occurs.
Taking care of my home.
Enjoying life and taking chances and being me know matter what.
These are the things that matter most to me.
What matters most to me is to give the best performance as much as I can in any situation.
If this question was asked several months ago, my answer will be ‘spending time with my loved one’. But things is, in this life, I have other things to do, a job, a passion, etc. So what matters most is to give the best performance, do the best that I can in spending time with my family, enjoying their happiness, their smile, enjoying and grateful for the time I can spent with them.
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