Big-Picture Thinking

As I said in yesterday's entry, I've been involved in minutiae and mundane at work lately. Hey, it happens to all of us, right?

So, I read a book for grownups that gets you to think about life the way your high school guidance counselor might've done it. The author says the idea (at first) is to list five things that, if you could, you'd want to have, you'd want to be, and you'd want to do in the next year.

You're not supposed to limit yourself in any way other than that the things are supposed to actually be doable (so things like, developing a superpower or going to Mars or being an opera star if you can't sing, etc. aren't supposed to be part of the deal), or worry about precisely how they'd be accomplished. Just blue-sky, big picture those things. The author says the point of the exercise is to reverse repression...so, here we go:

Five Material Things I'd Like To Have In The Next 12 Months

1. A loft in an urban environment, complete with my own writing space and media room. Any big city will do. Ideally, New York...but I'd take Dallas, San Francisco, Portland or Seattle (those are in reverse order, btw, but all good ones).
2. Six 20-game ticket packages to the Texas Rangers and six 10-game ticket packages to the Dallas Stars and Dallas Cowboys full season tickets with great seats and parking passes. I really don't want season tickets to hockey and baseball because I really think I'd get bored if I went to all the home games. 25% of the home games with friends seems about right for those.
3. Some way to get airfare taken care of to go see my sister/brother-in-law and sister-in-law/brother-in-law and nieces and nephews whenever I wanted to go.
4. A fully stocked bar/wine cellar with only the finest brands of each in stock. Maybe on one end of my media room or something. I don't really enjoy the club lifestyle, but having friends over and enjoying the finer things would be nice.
5. I'm not much of a car guy, but I really wouldn't mind a Mercedes-Benz 350 CLK-class convertible. It doesn't have to be convertible if I'm living in Texas, though. Hard top or soft top is fine.

Five Things I'd Like To Be In The Next 12 Months

1. A professor teaching Youth Ministry classes to seminary and/or Bible college students.
2. More proficient at guitar. I mean, really proficient. I don't know that I really have musical talent, but the songs I enjoy playing really involve more enthusiasm than talent. So, even in dream-big I'll settle for proficient.
3. 20 pounds slimmer and way more in shape. Not only would this be a nice challenge, a side benefit will be that my Wii Mii would look all in-shape when he pops onto the screen.
4. A published author...not only books, but magazine articles and such.
5. A speaker at a seminar or break-out session at the Youth Specialties Youth Ministry Conference in all three cities.

Five Things I'd Like To Do In The Next 12 Months

1. Go all "Kerouac road trip" and get in a car, drive to watch a game in every single major league park over the course of a baseball season, and muse about comparisons and contrasts between baseball, traveling America and the true Christian life. The end result of this would be a book. By Kerouac road trip, I'm hoping you know I mean that in the driving cross-continent sense without the drugs, booze and women. Well, maybe a little booze at appropriate times, but just because you're dreaming doesn't mean you can play fast and loose with morality.
2. Begin work on a doctorate degree.
3. Take my wife on that honeymoon we never got around to. She could pick the place or places. Since I don't like travel (but LOVE the destinations) I'd prefer to get to one spot and stay put and kick back and do nothing...but for two to four weeks I'm guessing I could be a good sport and hop if she wants to. The girl waited nearly a quarter-century for it, so I imagine I'll need to be flexible on that deal even if this is MY dream big. My dream-big is really her happiness.
4. Write the children's book that's been percolating in my brain for well over a decade now and also write the parenting/being a better child (why does it always have to be top-down, right?) book that's been percolating in my brain for about a year and a half now.
5. Go all "Ernest Hemingway" and run with the bulls in Spain. Not even kidding. For some reason, that's always had a fascinating appeal to me. By "Hemingway", I'm hoping you know that's without the booze. I can't imagine a scenario that involves drinking AND running with the bulls. Well, maybe a little AFTER the run, but just because you're dreaming doesn't mean you can play fast and loose with morality, right?

Man...this was a lot harder than it looks.

And, I'm sure you can tell that this is just the first exercise. It's intended to show you things about yourself and such that you'll be using later beyond a "rah-rah, live-your-dreams" kind of manner...