2014: The Year of Progress & Commitment

Well needless to say, it's been a while since I've dusted off this old blog spot for a good old fashioned...well...blogging. 

First, I feel that I should apologize for the naivety of my younger self (read a few of my posts from a couple years ago and you'll understand where I'm coming from).  But I don't delete them because I like to see how far I've come since that point in my life.

Which leads me straight into this current post.  As I was setting out to describe what's new in my life with this new post, I started to realize that it could come off as being very self-centered. Now, it may seem that I'm about to go off on a rant, but I promise it will tie back together.

I was born and raised a good Catholic (emphasis on "good," not "great"), but I've been through phases where I've lost touch with my faith and the reasons why I practice the religion that I do.  I've never doubted that there was a God, in fact I've always felt a strong connection with Him, but over the last year and a half or so (essentially since I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry), I've found a strong desire to reconnect with my religion in a more devout way. Recently coming off of a week-long Christmas vacation back in Indiana definitely influenced this desire. I always love going home and seeing all of my family members. I know most people find it dreadful, but I do thoroughly enjoy family time. Anyway, I came back to LA and decided to immediately get my arse back to church. 

So I went to mass tonight and, naturally, had to go to confession first as I couldn't receive communion having missed so many weeks in a row.  While in the confessional, Father (I'm not sure of his name, I'll have to ask next time) asked what I needed to talk about. I told him that I had missed mass several times and, although it wasn't intentional, it was definitely out of pure laziness.  He proceeded to ask me if I understood why we go to church every week and I basically responded by saying that it felt more like an obligation than anything, but that it was also to praise God (basic cookie-cutter response).  While he didn't say I was wrong, Father delved deeper into the real reasons behind weekly mass. In short, he explained to me that when we go to mass, we take all of our experiences from the previous week (good, bad or otherwise) and "lay" them at the alter to ask God to bless them so that we may remember not only "who we are, but whose we are," because we all belong to God.  Father made another great point that resonated with me (and not as if I didn't know this being in Los Angeles of all places) in saying that it's always easier to be a good Catholic in church. But to go out and live as God intended us to is much more difficult in the real world as we get caught up in friends and work and our daily lives. He then asked if I had any lack of forgiveness, and after thinking about it, I said yes (the reason for which is a whole other dramatic story we'll save for another time).  Anyway, Father reminded me that if we do not allow ourselves to forgive, we become imprisoned and enslaved to those we hold grudges against. So we must forgive in order to live more freely. 

Heavy stuff, right? But it all made perfect sense to me, especially with what I'm striving to accomplish in the new year. Now, to get back to that point that you all thought I forgot about by now. What this all came down to, in my perspective, was to become a more selfless person. But in order for us to become selfless, we must become a better version of ourselves. What I mean by that is that we must always keep sight of our dreams and become more confident in our own skin before we can successfully devote ourselves to helping those around us. Again, we go to church to recognize "who we are." That, my friends, is why I have coined the term this year "2014: Progress & Commitment."  I originally just thought to use Progress, but after my insightful visit in the confessional tonight, I realized that we can't really make progress without a vast amount of commitment to the things we want to progress in our lives; and I've got just a couple. 

I'd like to think that I've grown as a person since I've reached certain milestones in my life. Going to college, graduating college, moving to LA, getting a job, etc. However, I've recently realized that I was simply going through the motions all this time, rather than actually progressing. Now, I think the Progress aspect pertains more to my professional life, whereas the Commitment side insinuates my lack of consistency in the physical aspects of my life (physical being health and fitness related).  

The point that I am now making is that I have reached this level of motivation that I've never achieved before, and all the pieces seem to be falling into place with perfect timing. I joined LA Fitness and have been on a huge fitness binge over the last month or so. Physically, I'm feeling great. Which leads me into the first of two challenges that I have recently begun and I need to plug here. First, the Green Smoothie Challenge.  My sister told me about this because we're always looking for new ways to invest in a healthy lifestyle (whether we become successful or not is always a bit muddy, but I digress). So the two of us set out on this smoothie journey together and I feel great about it! It has done nothing but boost my motivation to new highs. This, along with my urge to hit the gym everyday is exhilarating and I finally feel like I'm committed to overcoming the physical challenges in my life.

Secondly, my professional career has been a bit up in the air since I first started out in LA. I went through the typical struggles of finding a first job, which I finally landed working for the owner of a small talent agency (remember that whole "lack of forgiveness" segment a few paragraphs back...). Without getting into too much detail, I essentially felt as though I was just jumping from job to job without any solid direction. However, my current job came along, again with impeccable timing. It's with an entertainment law firm, something I found random and did not have any desire in doing, but I've found now that it is one of the best things to happen to me career-wise.  As opposed to my first job, I am not under constant stress and pressure, which results in allowing me so much more time to focus on my writing (if you haven't caught on by now, I am an aspiring writer).  Which leads me to the second challenge I'm taking on, and in which this blog post is playing a very important role! (Along with my other blog over at The Film Jockey...I'm full of shameless plugs right now). The My 500 Words 31 Day Challenge is proving to be a great motivator in keeping me focused on my writing. I am currently working on a couple of screenplays and I have never been more ecstatic about the progress I've been making since I started this challenge just 3 days ago.

Whew, I must say that was a rather indulgent post...if you'll so allow yourself to indulge in my admittedly hit-or-miss bloggings. Anyway, I hope that this helps inspire some of you to progress and commit in the new year. I prefer not to think of them as "resolutions," but more as permanent life enhancements. 

And let the pretenses be gone! From here on out I may also use this blog in particular to keep track of some of my challenges (or I might just use my planner, I haven't quite decided yet). I suppose you'll know when you see the next time I post!

With that - Happy new year, happy progress and happy commitment!

2014: Progress & Commitment