The First Two Things

This afternoon I completed the first two items on my list of 23 things. As a single mom in her forties who has recently switched from a blue collar existence (school bus driver, garage worker, cafeteria lunch lady, office cleaner) to a respected profession (second grade teacher), I have some experience with setting and meeting goals. For me, getting through college while working and raising three teens was the biggest goal I set. I had no idea how many obstacles would be in my way. I'm glad I didn't know, because I would have thought that I couldn't accomplish my goal and I wouldn't have tried. I handled things as they came up. Luckily, there always seem to be many people around who have gone where I am going before me, and I have been able to ask them how to do some of the scarier things. I definitely kept the end in mind. That's what got me through when I felt like forgetting the whole deal. I focused on things like making my house payment and still having money left over. I didn't have much confidence in myself at the beginning of my college career because I thought that if I had what it took, I would have gone to college 20 years earlier. As I completed classes successfully, my confidence grew.
As for point 7 1/2, Play, that usually has to wait until the work is done. In this class, those two things may turn out to be the same.