Metas

Diana was telling me about a meeting given by the GM of her hotel to her and the rest of the employees. At the end of the meeting he asked who among them keeps a list of goals and objectives. Diana was the only one to raise her hand. When asked, she said that at the beginning of the year she writes down her goals for the year to come on the first page of her agenda. As the year progresses, she occasionally checks her list and, come mid-year, she does a complete evaluation of the list, making changes in her schedule and her life so that she can achieve what remains incomplete.

This really impressed me. Before, I would have thought it was good for her, but not really for me. In the last year or two, however, I have learned more about myself and what I am driven by, and I want to pursue what drives me. What's more, I want to pursue and succeed at what have become my passions.

But that is not all. She told me she does the same thing with her personal goals, but that she keeps those in a separate place. When she came back from her room, she layed her notebook open in front of me and started paging through the last two years that we have been together. She read aloud, "Be with Matt", "Send more messages to Matt", and several other goals related to how she could change herself to make me happy and to make our relationship stronger. I was more than impressed. I was affected.

It was one of those moments that changes a person. Here she is, one of the best, nicest, most caring people I have ever met in my life, selflessly changing the way she is to make the relationship that we have better. Not only that, but as I listened, I noticed a check in her voice. As my eyes followed her words along the page, I realized that she had successfully done everything that she could think of to make my (our) life happy.

At that moment, I felt more than just love. I felt a desire to make her feel the same way. Affected. Loved. Astonished. New. I wanted to change myself to make her happy and I wanted to be with her to support her and help her fulfill the rest of her goals.

So, I planned on making my own list of goals the next day after I finished teaching. The whole day I thought about my dreams and aspirations, excited about the permanent reminder I would have to provide me with ambition and motivation to do great things -- about having a simbol of the greatness and love that was shared with me the day before -- about carrying around in my pocket the power, strength, will, and vision that had given dominance to my stride and fire to my soul.

But classes went long and I grew tired and distracted. I went to bed without picking up a pad and pencil. Soon, my list became another goal to be accomplished some other day. Another thought to be pushed aside or forgotten -- a memory to smile at in a moment of reflection or a window to a time of what could be if I had the time to make it.

That is the danger that we all face, isn't it? It is the reason for the list. The list serves as a token against complacency and procrastination. It is a focal point to keep our attention on what is important, to remind us of the things that are bigger than our daily lives. It keeps us honest and gives us a reference to not only where, but to who we want to be.

And having a list of positive things to constantly be reminded of only leads to more positivity. Sure, I feel great pursuing my list, but I feel even greater helping some one else fulfill theirs. It is one thing to be great and a-whole-nother thing to share it and make great the world around you.

So, in the name of greatness, here are some of my goals for the rest of this year, in no particular order. I hope I have inspired you to write your own.

• Create my "Potentials and Fields" class and make an effort to put it on YouTube
• Contribute at least twice a month to Casual Science
• Gather parts for the Watch-a-Doodle (a.k.a. Wetch-a-Sketch)
• Do not let work keep me too busy nor play keep me too idle.

And lastly (for this blog, anyway), but certainly not leastly,

• Help Diana fulfill the rest of her goals.