Lost Book.................

**Random Blog Alert**

For anyone who might be following me on this blog.  As you can tell, I've been completely off on writing my daily blogs.  However... I realized that I don't know where my book is. I believe I left it at work.

Don't give up hope! I will get back on top of my journey! Pray my strength!

Day 8 coming in the very near future!

Day 7: Life Plans & Mentorship

Hey ladies and gents... the Lord is great and is to be exalted above all the earth!  Well Day 7 doesn't have any real assignment I can write about or any chapters to read. I'm still contemplating on my Life Plan.  I'd be cool if I can put together a life statement to start with so we'll see as I continue on this journey.  Today I need to name 3 or 4 people who have been a positive mentor to me and ask if I could contact them and ask for their advice.  Here are 3 people who come to my mind on first thought as mentors.

Positive Mentors

1. Mrs. Hymes -- 7th grade English teacher
• Not sure how I could contact her but she's one of the BEST teachers I had growing up.  She always challenged me to do better than my best.  
• I haven't spoken to her since right before I graduated from high school.
2. Allene Manning -- Older sister I never had
• One of my buddies that has lived a few more years than me on this earth and has great wisdom to show for it.  Her faith and maturity in the Lord unshakable and I think her career actually is something she really enjoys.  I trust her advice. She's only a call away...
3. Dr. Roy Dejoie -- M.I.S. professor for several classes at Purdue
• He is very knowledgeable about various aspects of technology and someone I trust to advise me about potential career paths in IT.  He was probably my favorite professor at Purdue and one I make sure to keep in touch with periodically.  He loves what he does.  He's only an email away..

Mom.. if you're reading this.. don't be dismayed.  You are SO much more than a mentor.  You're my mom.. you're in a class of your own. Love you! ☺

I did realize that I answered the wrong set of "Countdown To The Work I Love" questions yesterday.  I answered Day 9's set.. lol.. So on Day 9.. I will answer Day 6 questions.  They kind of go hand and hand.

This was actually a short one (the crowd goes wild with applause)!  Until tomorrow...

Day 6: What is my LIFE plan???

Sooo today its Day 6 and I don't have a definitive answer to that question.  I know I like to put a smile on people's face.  It gives me great joy to see other people happy and that I played a part in it.  Not sure how I can apply that to a career but I'm sure there are many things I could do that would do that.  I often find it makes me happy when people like the things I create (web design, flyers, etc.).

Today will be a pretty short blog.. I'm kind of frustrated with thinking about my life right now..  I'm in a place of extreme uncertainty and at times it makes me mad.  Today would be one of those days.  Today's assignment was to talk with 2 people about my understanding of vocation, career, job.  Read yesterday's blog and let me know if I did a good job of that.  I'm also going to answer the questions at the end of Chapter 3: Creating A Life Plan.  Here goes...

COUNTDOWN TO THE WORK I LOVE

1. Are you a goal setter? Do you typically set goals at the frist of the year? If not, why not?
• I'm not a true goal setter.  I tend to set general goals instead of specific ones.  I usually get caught up in the mundane tasks of life or things I do to avoid real life and never get to most of them unless I have something keeping me on task.  
• Usually if I set specific goals and DEADLINES I'm pretty good about sticking to it.  I sometimes find it hard for me to focus.. so that's probably why I don't set as many goals.  Its easier to not feel like a failure.. I think is my logic (hmmm.. although that's not really working out for me.. :-/)
2. How would you describe your current focus on work?  
• Job work: Non-existent
• School work:  I can focus when I can get away from distractions and get out of my head.  I usually set aside time where I'm truly dedicated to completing the assigned tasks
3. What hobbies do you have? What other skills and interests do you have?
• My hobbies.. would reading fiction books and watching movies count?
• I actually like to watch commentaries of movies I like. 
• I love super cool tech gadgets.  It's something about figuring out something new works.
• I like programming and it comes fairly natural to me.
• I am starting to really LOVE singing.. preferably praise and worship songs unto the Lord.
• I think I really like blogging.. lol.
• I am very good at putting a smile on people's face. (I think anyways)
4. How are you involved in your community?
• I am pretty active in my local church, Hope International Ministries.  
5. What was your father's or mother's attitude toward work and how has that affected you?
• I think both of their attitudes are.. "do what you have to, to survive".
• I think this is my Dad's life motto and it seems he's accepted a mediocre life. :-(
• My mother's attitude is more switching to.. "do what makes you happy".
• My mom had some negative attributes to how she handled not being happy in a current job that I think I'm picking up.  That makes me sad.
• Both of those attitudes makes me want to cling to what seems to be steady and stable income whether it brings me joy or not.  However.. I'm ready to enjoy my career now and not it just be something I do to past the time to get a certain amount of income.

I'm ready to discover what my vocation is and fit my career around that.  Lord.... your guidance is certainly needed.  If you're reading this.. touch and agree with me that GOD will open my eyes to what HE has in store for me and where & how I need to move to get it.  

Until tomorrow....

Day 5: Creating A Life Plan

Work is love made visible

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste,

it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple 

and take alms of those who work with joy.

For if you bake bread with indifference, you make bitter bread

that feeds but half man's hunger.

And if you grudge the crushing of grapes,

your grudge distills a poison in the wine.

And if you sing though as angels, and love not singing,

you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

All work is empty save when there is love;

and when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself,

and to one another, and to God.

                                          - Kahlil Gibran

It's been a few days but I'm back on the grind... creating a LIFE PLAN!  This book is just so on where I'm trying to go.  Although, I'm starting to think really for something like this should be given more than a day to work on certain topics.  I mean.. really.. am I suppose to create an entire LIFE plan in like a day or two?! This is like major boot camp.. lol.

The whole point of this chapter is to talk about how your work is only supposed to be one area of your life that you should have small deposits of success but not your entire life.  Your should plan your work around the type of life you want and not the other way around.  Few nuggets of knowledge from 48 Days To The Work You Love about three words that are often used interchangeably but shouldn't be......

• Vocation -- This word incorporates your calling, purpose, mission, and destiny.  
• "It's what you're doing in life that makes a difference and build meaning for you..."  
• "It suggests your LISTENING for something that's calling out to you-- something that is particular to you"

"Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen for that voice telling me who I am"  -Dan Miller  

• Career -- This word means to run or move at full speed, rush wildy.
• The books basically talks about how careers are simply a line of work and that various types of careers can support your calling. (Good to know right?!)

And last but not least (well maybe?).......

• Job -- Ones daily activities that produce income.

So I realized what I'm really need to figure out is what is my vocation.  What really calls out to me? It sounds like the other two will fall into place.  To paraphrase a quote the book:

"There is a Hebrew word, advoah, for which comes the words "work" and "worship". To the Hebrew man, his work is just as much an expression of worship as being in the synagogue."

I mean.. I'm trying to get there.  The bible does talk about doing everything unto the Lord and I can say with certainty I'm def not doing that at present.

I also need to work on not identifying my entire life with my career. I am bigger than my career!  I'm working to invest my time in things that incorporate my skills and abilities, personal tendencies, and values, dreams and passions.  I realize that until recently.. I really hadn't been pursuing those 3 key areas in almost anything I did.  

GOD is sure doing a work in me.. I just know it!  My prayer is to continue to be transformed.  So as I continue my search for a career that better suits me, I'm going to also work on balancing that with other areas of life that I've been neglecting (health being a serious one).

Day 4: A little more CHANGE

Hi all,

It's been quite the tiring day.  I came home from work and completely crashed.  I think right now because I need to make some major steps towards change it can all be overwhelming.  Big thoughts in my head right now.. do I take the obvious open opportunity in front of me because I'm really wanting a change of pace or continue to seek for the dream?  I mean.. really.. what is the dream in its entirety and how do I know what lies in front of me won't lead me there?  The answer to this is.. I don't know.  I have an awareness of what I would find pretty interesting to do as a job.. but not quite sure how I will be getting there.  People always says the Lord works in mysterious ways.... I guess I just need to pray and trust.

Enough of my ramblings...

Today, I will be answering the questions at the end of chapter 2.. that's it.  I'm supposed to write out my answers so here I go.

Countdown to Work I LOVE

1. Respond to the statement, "All progress requires change, but not all change is progress."
• Wow sir!  This is speaking right to how I feel right now.  I know I need to make a change but how can I ensure that change is going to progress my situation, keep me complacent (yikes!), or worse have me go backwards in some way. 
• I suppose the key for me will be to look & seek out progressive changes. Alot of this I believe will require some serious prayer and LISTENING on my part.  God is trying to tell me something.. I know it.. I'm just hard of hearing these days.  Lord help!
2. What statement describes your career path so far?
• The path of least resistance and risk. (This is disappointing but true....)
3. How has a company change affected you?  How did it make you feel?
• Well... there hasn't been a company change that has really affected me personally. They've done some reorganization at my job which is a nice way to say they laid some employees off to get rid of redundancy, but it hasn't affected me directly (yet).
• It made me feel like nothing is as secure as it seems though.  There were people who worked at Purdue for years.. real workaholics.. and got thrown out like yesterday's newspaper.  The thing I thought about it is..
• What would happen if you stayed at a job your entire life that you didn't love and just to make a paycheck, worked your tail off for years.. for the "security" and got laid off randomly?
• What would that do to your spirit? 
• How do you reinvent yourself when you haven't really been yourself in a long time? 
• Would you continue a life of status quo and look for the next mediocre job that doesn't fit you still... or do you say "screw it.. I'm going to do what I want to do?".  (For some reason I'd imagine it'd be the former and that ladies & gents is quite depressing.)
4. Have you ever experience any "failure" in your career?  If so, what did it lead to?
• Well... I think I'm failing right now by not doing something that I'm motivated to be my very best in doing.  I'm SO on the status quo end of things.  Quite frankly, I feel like I'm failing myself and the individuals I work with. It's really hard to do 100% when you are unmotivated........
• It lead to me reading this book and writing this blog.  Hopefully I will grow from this and inspire some to do the same along the way.
5. What were your childhood goals and ambitions for life?  Which ones have you been able to fulfill?
• Childhood goals: Become valedictorian of my high school, be the next Doogie Howser.. maybe as a neurosurgeon, become an astronaut or for NASA in some capacity, be prosperous, have a loving marriage and a kid or two, travel the world.  Can't think of anything else that I wanted to do or be as a child.
• Let's see... too old to be a Doogie Howsers... didn't go the NASA route... hmmm still living paycheck to paycheck... single... been to Florida (does that count?!).. I suppose the only one I've accomplished was being valedictorian (yay me.. right?)
6. Who are 2 or 3 people you know who seem to have accomplished their dreams?  What do you remember about their accomplishments?
• This one is a doozy... I'm not sure I literally "know" people who've accomplished their dreams.  I know a lot of peple who "do what they have to do to surive" (boring......).
• Maybe I'll talk to a few people who I think are living their dreams or at least doing something they love and come back to this one on another blog post (hmm.. yea.. I'll do that).
7. What do you imagine your retirement will be like?
• I imagine me being free to do exactly what I want to do.. everyday.  Probably helping more at local church, traveling to see a new location a few times a year (with the future hubby.. yea! LOL), spending time with people I love.. lots of laughter, looking at my grown children who are creating deposits of success in their own lives and thinking to myself "wow.. I was an instrumental part in their development.. thank you LORD"
• In all honesty, if I get this whole "doing work I love" down & having a balanced life.. not much different from that except I might all together ensure I'm in a situation where I don't have to go to work.  Perhaps, if I have my own company.. leaving the day to day affairs to someone else that I've charged to carry the torch and just check in from time to time.

Well that's all she wrote.... hope you're enjoying reading about my journey as much as I'm enjoying writing it.  Talk back to me.. you think I'm staying on the surface.. you think I need to dig deeper?

Till tomorrow.. well sometime later today as by the time this posts.. it will officially be Day 5.. lol.. (it's the night owl in me.. what can I say?!).  I'll leave you with this.. EXPECT THE GREAT.. I know I am...

Day 3 - The Challenge of Change!!!

The complete title of the Chapter 2 is The Challenge of Change:  React, Respond, or Get Trampled.  Boy does that speak volumes. So here I am, writing about Day 3 on Day 4....  its been a pretty rough day for me but I wanted to post this so I wouldn't get behind.  One thing I must say.. I'm starting to love the beginning of the chapter quotes.

"A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities." 

- Charles De Gaulle

"Affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope."

 - Romans 5:3-4

Today's plan was just to read chapter 2, recap my work history to myself and ponder on two questions:

• How close to the national averages am I in the length of my jobs?
• The national average for keeping a job is 3.2 years, so it's safe to say that I have surpassed that with my current job and come close with others.  I'm not sure the others really count as they were jobs just to get me through undergrad. 
• Were the changes in your work a result of circumstances or something I did?
• I suppose all of my changes were circumstantial.  While at Purdue I never really chose a part-time job based on if I'd like it or not.  I chose based on convenience and later how much money I'd be making.  When I started looking for internships it became more about how good this would look on my resume and position me for a "stable job".  It's weird sometime between graduating high school and graduating college I stopped pursuing things that really interested me.

That being said.. this chapter was about CHANGE... and that's something I realize I am seriously struggling with.  Truth be told, sometimes as much as I want change.. I'm scared as heck of it.  Wait.. to give clarity.. change that I haven't planned out.. lol. Like just to take a leap of faith into the unknown doesn't sound very sensible to me most of the times so I haven't did it.

I think the biggest part of this situation is I don't really know who I am or what I want. I know I'm a child of GOD but I don't really know who GOD has created me to be (bummer, right?!).  I'm excited (.. and maybe a little scared..) about what's to come.. because right now I am SO uncomfortable that things will have to change.  I cannot do stagnant & mediocre anymore.

Key Quotes from Chapter 2

• "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eye off the goal"
• "The more you understand yourself, the more you can move forward with boldness and confidence.  When you get to heaven, GOD is not going to ask you why you weren't more like Mother Teresa, HE's likely to ask you why you weren't more like you. Lead with your own unique talents and personality.  Be authentically you and let GOD use you."
• "Just because you have the ability to do something does not mean it is well-suited to you."
• "All beginnings are hopeful"

That last quote helps me realize part of what is my issue.  Not having a clear, cut vision of my future direction is causing me to be hopeless.  I mean, how can one have faith without hope.. they kind of go hand in hand.  So that is my prayer... VISION.. please if you're reading this today... say a quick prayer for me.  

I know that I'm not in this season of my life for nothing. I pray that I pay attention to what is going on and what GOD wants me to learn.  I'm gaining a lot of knowledge while reading this book but as my pastor said in bible study last night, "Knowledge is not power unless it changes you and knowledge without a test is not LEARNED".  

I'll leave you with this quote:

"Faith is ALWAYS in front of me, NEVER behind me" 
                                       ~ Pastor Harold Pettigrew, Jr.

It's time for me to take a leap of faith! Pray my strength!

Day 2: What is work?

On Day 2, I had to read Chapter 1 and answer the questions at the end called "Countdown To The Work I Love" questions.  I love this quote at the beginning of the chapter.

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.  He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.  To him he is always doing both."  

                                                                                                                           ~James Michener 

Key Chapter Quotes (for me):

• "What if we were able to create a model for work that included work, play, leisure and spiritual components? Is that reasonable?"
• "Money is never enough compensation for investing one's time and energy"
• "Few obstacles exist beyond those in our minds if we are creative in looking for solutions."
• "Success is not a future event -- it is the "progressive realization of worthwhile goals".  Thus either you are successful today or you are not"
• "When we are not true to ourselves, to our unique God-given characteristics, we lose the power of authenticity, creativity, imagination, and innovation.  Our life becomes performance-based, setting the stage for compromise in all other areas of our life."

COUNTDOWN TO WORK I LOVE

1. Who gave you your first job? What kind of job was it? How much money did you make?
• My first real job was at Pizza Hut as a customer service rep.  I made $5.15/hr  (tragic moment!), but enjoyed it for the most part because it was my first paycheck and I worked with friends.. not to mention free pizza. 
2. From looking at your work life so far, what has been of the greatest value or worth?
• Probably the greatest value has been all the different and unique people I've met along the way.. both good & bad.  Although, I'd say I've been pretty blessed to have some super cool co-workers/colleagues most of the time.
3. If your job changes, does your purpose change?
• This is an excellent question.  My answer is.. I seriously hope not.  I feel like my purpose should go beyond my job.  The only problem is at this present moment.. I'm not sure what that is.
4. Do you think your current job will exist five years from now?
• I honestly think it will but probably not as many people in my department doing it.  They will probably consolidate the area to reduce redundancy. So then.. perhaps that answer should be no.. loll.
5. What would be key characteristics of an ideal job or career?
• Flexibility (i.e. being able to work from anywhere in the world and not always in the office)
• Preferably non-traditional job that's not a strict 8a.m. - 5 pm
• Love  & get along well with the people I work with (minimum drama!)
• Feel personally passionate about what I'm doing & actually care about the end results
• Something that makes me feel alive and that I'm adding value to someone live in some sort of way
• Make good enough money to live more than comfortably, debt free, hefty savings and be able to freely give to others.
• Preferably allows me to be creative and work with latest & coolest technology.. maybe even create that technology
6. When you daydream, what do you see yourself doing?
• This one is a doozy.. lol.  If I've been playing too many games like Bejeweled Blitz.. I daydream about playing it... lol.
• Career wise.. I've daydreamed about being a genius or a prodigy but with personality!  I like my intellect to be stimulated.
• Spiritually.. I've daydreamed about being an effective minstrel of the gospel.  Where literally as I sing, chains are being broken off people and they are free to be in true worship and communion with the Lord.
7. What have been the happiest, most fulfilling moments in your life?
• Believe it or not.. graduation from high school.. actually more fulfilling than Purdue. (wowsers!)
• Programming my computer generated mini-movie a few semesters ago
• Creating & editing web cam movies a few years ago
• Putting a smile on a child's face.. especially a baby.
• Good, stress-free, HILARIOUS conversations with family & friends.
• Singing on the HOPE Praise Team
8. IF nothing changed in your life in the next 5 years, would that be OK?
• AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaHHHHhhhhhh!!!! Not at all!!!  That would be a sad tragedy!

My goal this year is to stop living aimlessly and I will repeat that until it manifests itself in my reality.  No one should live a life in "survival mode".  In this chapter Dan quotes a scripture from Proverbs 18:14 "..a man's spirit can endure sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?".  This spoke volumes to me.  My prayer is that this year the Lord restores the joy of HIS salvation and allows me to gain vision into my destiny so that I can walk it out.  My goal this year is to build a "life plan".

Until tomorrow....

48 Days: Day 1

Ok.. here we go.  For anyone who doesn't know me I am night owl in the truest definition of the word.  It's something I'm trying to break and one day I will or discover a life where that works.  This entry is a quick one.. Day 1 of my journey to the career I love started yesterday.. lol.  However, I wanted to start my blog off right so probably later today I will do another post about my thoughts on Day 2.

Day 1 is all about reviewing the entire 48 day journey and reading the book's introduction.  I then had to sign on the dotted line in the book that I will be committed to the process. I can honestly say so far, out of all the career self help books I've started this one seems like it will keep my interest.  Could be because it adds a component of Christianity while reading.

Whew! Here we go people.. day 1 down, 47 more to go... keep me honest!

On to the next one...

Let's try this.. why not?

Life is so full of monumental and yet simple things.  Monumental and the end of life as we know it while we're going through a situation and more often than not simple when looking back. Let's face it, life can be downright scary at times and exhilarating at other times or both all at once. Complicated... yet brilliant.. worth the journey. I'm not a big writer but I figure this might be therapeutic as I begin my journey to intentionally living a life of purpose. This year, 2011, I plan to awake every day that I'm blessed with intentionally.

I decided yesterday to start a blog to record my journey as I go through journey to find myself and a career I'm passionate about. So I, Markika Harris, for at least the next 48 days will be committing to updating this blog as I go through the process in the book called "48 days to the work I love" by Dan Miller.  I'm thinking this will be very therapeutic for me. For the next 48 days I'm going to probably open up about some things that might even scare me.. within boundaries ( can't put all my business out) .. lol. However, I'm thinking this is probably the only way I can hold my self accountable and hopefully get some encouragement along the way.

Who knows? If I feel inspired this might continue and there might be other topics afterwards and even along the way. So journey with me as I begin a new chapter in my life.  A life where each day is lived intentionally and more.. no MOST effectively.  I'm going to live, love, pray, praise, move on purpose.. no more aimless living.