On goals and changing the world

It's been a really busy few days and I haven't had the time to blog, or a camera to document things with... This is an important project to me, so it's a bit contradictory that I've left it aside lately. Today I wanted to share a realization that I had.

Lately, I've been setting a lot of new goals. I write them down, but then I almost instantly forget about them -there's too many to realistically keep. I have many pending things right now taking up my thoughts besides my homework, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't worry about the future. I'm constantly thinking ahead. While I have many exciting projects to choose from, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by everything. I can't choose what's most important, so I try to do everyting and then I stress.

I'm surrounded by many great people, yet the routine, the stress and the lack of new and exciting things means I don't always appreciate them. I worry that I end up spreading my negativity, my stress, my worries instead of being a source of love, comfort and inspiration.

Today I'm writing my statement of interest for my application to study in Toronto for the coming fall semester. Toronto wasn't my first choice and initially I was a bit disappointed and scared about going there. I'm finally in a place where I'm genuinely happy to be going there for a few months, and it's all thanks to my amazing family and friends. Re-reading my personal statement from when I applied to my current university two years ago felt like finding the missing piece of the puzzle.

In the last sentence, I talk about my longest-standing goal: being able to change the world around me by doing what I love. Reading this reminded me about what's really important -not goals like 'read a book every month' (that's also good, but not worth stressing about!), but giving by being the best I can be.

A wise woman told me that you can change the world whether you're a yoga teacher or a politician. It doesn't matter what you do, you always have an impact on those around you. It's about starting small.

In other words, it's about having the attitude! Instead of poisoning those around me with worry, stress and negativity, I want to try to fill them with fresh ideas and nice feelings. Give back some of the amazing support I've received. Supporting each other in hard times is an important part of friendship, but motivating and lifting each other's mood on a day-to-day basis is just as valuable.

So I wrote down my goal: sometimes you need a visual reminder for things that are so basic that you stop being conscious of them.