Friday, March 14, 2008

I was in jail from November 30, 2007 to March 27, 2008 for a D.U.I.. This is an excerpt from the journal I kept while in there:

Friday, March 14, 2008

Day 106. I have just written my Personal Mission Statement and I am exhilarated by it. I am very satisfied by what i have come up with: "In my life I will strive to do what is good, right, and virtuous. I will be the positive change I want to see in the world."...I know! Impressive hu? haha.

But seriously, I am really proud of it. It is clear enough as to be easy to understand and yet general enough to be useful in any situation. It is my guide for how to live every day. I intend to use it as a compass to guide me through the rest of my life.

I am going to set aside time each day for visualization and affirmation. That is to say, time where I am free from distractions and can be alone to plan my day. To visualize my day and think about it in the context of my mission statement. It only makes sense to do this in the morning, before the day has begun. So it will require that I get up early and go to bed at a reasonable time. The finer points of this "visualization and affirmation" time will get worked out as it's implemented but the basic idea is to spend some uninterrupted time visualizing my day, consciously going through the goals for the day, reviewing my mission statement and how it will guide me through the day.

Then I will have to work out a time of day that I can regularly sit down at my computer and write an entry into my journal. The purpose of which is to awaken and amplify that internal voice, that mental dialog that will guide me on my own unique journey. I will keep a written record of the daily struggles of living a life "on purpose"- It's failures, it's victories. But what I want is to be forced to tune into that voice every day so that I hear it more clearly. Doing this at the end of the day makes the most sense to me. After I have nearly ended my day I can sit down at the computer and spend a little or a lot of time reviewing the day and taking stock of my feelings and so on. I have always thought this was a great idea. The only thing that has kept me from doing it is that I never make the sacrifice in time necessary, and I have always been too unstable. But now I am ready to make the commitment necessary.