Getting Motivated

I am someone who feels best when I accomplish something. Sometimes, I think I am a little too motivated because all the things I try to accomplish cause me stress. My husband often reminds me that I can't do it all. He's right-- I can't. When I take on too many things, I find that I fail at them all! BUT, in all areas of life, I do try to constantly improve. Sometimes, I just need to learn to pick and choose which area needs the most improvement! It's my belief that if we are staying "stagnant", that we aren't living up to our full potential. Now, of course we can never be perfect, but with God's help I think we can always be better than we were. 

So what are some areas that I am always striving to be better? And what motives me? Here are just a few:

Spiritual life

To improve in any area of my life, I think I need to first focus on this one. I'm not saying that it's okay (because it's definitely not!), but sometimes I let this one slide because, well, I can't see God. When I can see my husband, schoolwork, chores, etc, I find that it is easy to focus on those things first. I need to remember that God is the One who can see me at all times. 

So what motivates me to work on my spiritual life? Often, praise music. I love singing songs so having a wonderful evening of singing with friends really uplifts me and encourages me to refocus. A really interesting talk at church might also motivate me. I find myself fascinated when a speaker brings up a really intricate and mysterious point from the Bible and that encourages me to want to find out more! Often, an intimate devotional will also inspire me. Typically, I find devotionals more real and raw than a class. "Real" gets to me. When I hear about other's struggles, other's joys, other's hard work... it makes me want to get closer to God. 

Marriage

This one is huge and it makes me sad that so many people don't seem motivated to improve their marriage. One of the biggest things that motivates me is seeing or hearing of couples who don't seem to try. They are married, but they don't make an effort to talk, to make each other happy, or to love each other. I don't want my marriage to be like that and neither does Daniel. We have been working on communicating a lot. We also have been working on intentionally loving each other. Marriage is difficult, but it is beautiful. I've been inspired by a lot of fun ideas from The Dating Divas. It's a great website for marriage and for family that Daniel and I have used for date ideas.

Health

To be completely honest, sometimes the wrong things motivate me to be more healthy-- like seeing photo-shopped pictures of gorgeous women and dreaming of having perfect, tiny legs. When that happens, I try to bring myself back to reality. I'm in the healthcare field so I know the importance of moving. I get motivated when I hear about people who are really unhealthy or sick. I know being healthy can't prevent everything-- we are all going to die-- but it can make the journey a lot more pleasant! 

School

A lot of the time, I'm not that motivated in school.  In our program, we have to get an 83% or higher on everything, so that can be stressful! Whenever I don't study well, I worry about passing and that motivates me to do better the next time. I am also motivated when I hear about people who have overcome incredible odds to get an education. That motivates me to try harder!

So, what motivates you? Do you find yourself motivated by some of the same goals?