The Plan: In the Garden

Tonight I begin part of what I term “The Plan” (and a series of entries on it). The Plan is intended to be a life plan, and not all of it I have plotted yet, but I am certainly working on it. The part of The Plan that I am beginning this evening is the garden phase of the plan. Now, you may be saying, “what does a garden have to do with a fully comprehensive life plan?” Let me tell you.

For me at this point in my life, my life isn't terribly anchored. I am terribly wishy-washy, and I am terribly unmotivated no matter the motivational force that moves me. I have come to the conclusion that in order for a plan to truly work for me, it will have to suit more than just one area of my life, it definitely has to be fully comprehensive since there are more than just one or two issues that need to be addressed.

I as a human being have proven to be a high stress individual. I don't believe it is entirely genetics, although that could be part of it. In order for me to start accomplishing more, and I need to start stressing less. This can be accomplished through a number of things including meditation, deep-breathing, and last but not least anchoring myself in something I enjoy.

I have written a lot about passions in this journal, and the things I am passionate about most of the time help me reduce my stress output. One of the things that I am passionate about is planting some bushes of various types. These bushes feature types of fruit (currants and elderberries) that for the most part are very good for you, not only in a health sense, but to an extent a mental sense (since they feature chemicals that can help the release of certain chemicals within the brain).

I don't intend to plant just these wondrous fruits, but also an entirely separate garden of vegetables that I enjoy. I am a big fan of the marrow family of fruits, and intend to have many of those planted along with various other vegetables including beans, peas, and of course carrots.

Tonight I will begin the purchasing of my fruit bushes. The first order I will place will probably be with Gurney's (I hope they turn out okay, they have been of mixed success previously), in which I am planning to order two Elderberry bushes, and one Jostaberry bush (a jostaberry is a cross between a black currant and a gooseberry). The most likely order I will place after that will either be currants and an elderberry from Nourse Farms, or just currants from The Currant Company (of whom I should order from no matter what).

I am able to begin my fruit bush phase of the garden plan earlier than the vegetable phase because I am going to be home off and on throughout the rest of April. Although when they are young they require frequent care (which should be given to them always), bushes typically will do better than seedlings when left on their own for a brief period of time.

The vegetable phase of the garden phase should begin in May. I am getting pretty excited about the entire process, especially the fruit bush phase. There is something about gardening that reaches into an inner level of the soul if you are growing something that you enjoy (otherwise it is utter drivel), it is medicinal and stress relieving, which is good for both body and soul.

As far as my plan, The Plan goes, I will give more details as I go. I haven't made it very known how the rest of works, but that will come with time. Overall, it is all about balance, and becoming a more balanced, and happy being; both of which I intend to become.

Money

"Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you're O.K.
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
A new car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team" - Pink Floyd

I hate money. I love money. It is both what makes and breaks my existance. I almost feel like my habit of spending quite a fair amount of money on media is my attempt on some subliminal level to compensate for my hatred of the dreary and dead-end job I currently operate in every day. I could be in school getting a degree, earning potential to make more money, but instead I'm working at this place where I am going nowhere, and just earning enough to "enjoy" my
habits. Satisfying the now is something I need to work on curbing 
(lets say by the end of May, I think I'll try to cut down to just cds after that).
Cheers to you money, you're a bastard.

This Month - More Entries

So this month I have decided to write more than I have ever written on this thing before; more entries that is. As far as blogs go, I write very long entries, so I'm going to try to write shorter ones, although I won't guarantee anything. If I am truly trying to chronicle events (and ideas) in my life, then I certainly need to write more than an average of 4 entries per month.

Goals

Since I've been meandering away my time far too much, I've decided to put finger to key and write down some goals that I need to achieve. I've been really very lax as far as accomplishing anything as of late, so I'm hoping this will help. Some of these goals will be every day goals, whereas others will be long term (and all should help me in self improvement).

Goals:
1. Read a minimum of 50 pages a day (this should be easy, I waste far too much time on TV).
2. Read at least 1 chapter of scriptures every day.
3. Do cardio for at least 30 minutes, at least 4 times a week.
4. Do calisthenics at least 5 times a week.
5. Eat at least one piece of fruit 5 times a week.
6. Get readmitted to BYU, and go back to school.
6a. Get ecclesiastical endorsement.
6b. Do Academic warning paperwork and submit it.
6c. Meet with counselor at BYU to review paperwork.
NOTE: If for some reason BYU turns out that it is not an option, it is imperative that I go to school. In this instance I need to attempt to get into UVU as my alternative (although I'd much rather return to BYU).
7. Pay a full tithe (so far this year I have done pretty, pretty good I think, I just need to keep it up).
8. Finish my HEPE Independent Study course by the May deadline (07 May 2008).
9. Start writing some of my stories.
10. Return to Europe by 2011 (this one is somewhat iffy, but if I write it down its more likely to happen).

I think this is a reasonable starting place as far as goals are concerned, but I hope to add more as I go. I'll probably post updates on these goals here just to help keep myself on track (which is not something I have a very easy time of doing). I will begin with these as of tomorrow (today rather, but I don't consider it the next day until I've gone to sleep), and I am going to try to plan on being successful. C'est la vie.