Perspective after another year on Earth

Last Thursday marked yet another birthday of mine. It was my second since moving back to the US and my first here in our new home.

Since I turned 30, I spent a lot of time looking back on my life and dwelling on the past. But now I've decided to stop the dwelling and to focus more on what's ahead and what I have to look forward to.

So I'm writing down a few things I want to either accomplish or to be hopeful about.

Here they are:

- Having my daughter visit us here sometime soon.

(We constantly pray that her mom will open her mind to it.)

- Being more active in my son's school.

(My wife and I are joining his school's PTA.)

- Getting back in shape and losing the weight I've gained since my back injury.

(My wife and I have slowly started an exercise regimen.)

- Paying off at least one of our car loans.

(This may take a while, but it would ease a big financial burden.)

- Enhancing my career growth.

(I'm looking into taking classes in order to "raise my stock".)

- Becoming more active in Church.

(My wife and I are hoping we can work around our schedules to join the choir.)

These, of course, are just a few of things that I've been trying to focus on. Some of these are tougher to accomplish, but just changing my outlook keeps me driven and optimistic.