Self-help!

My super-talented, super-amazing wife just got her Professional Engineering thing, which is HUGE. She's now batting in the same league as her bosses, and although it was several months of her nose to the grindstone, she did it!

Hats off to Mom! (Or hats on, I guess!)

Meanwhile, I've realized that since I no longer have a job job (not to be confused with a job, which I do have), self-improvement has fallen onto the back burner. The most progress I've made recently in my life is that I'm a few steps closer to unlocking all the ships in FTL.

I'll get you someday, Federation Cruiser Type C

Everyone's different, but here's what holds me back personally:
1. When I don't see results quickly, I fall off the bandwagon.
2. Since I pretty much do my job 24/7, free time is usually spent being anything but productive
3. I'm just plain lazy.

But not as lazy as this good-for-nothing freeloader!

So, I'm gonna try and get my butt on the move by reading self-improvement books. Because one thing I love to do is read, read, read.
I'm starting with The Art of Manliness' free ebook, 30 Days to a Better Man!

For me, it's good to have an end in sight. So, the limit of 30 days appeals to me.
(Plus, this is the bunch that convinced me to start using a safety razor, which has greatly improved my life and my looks.)

I won't make a point of how each day goes, but I did want to share the fruit of Day 1. "Define Your Core Values."

1. Humility
2. Identity
3. Community
4. Nurturing spirit
5. Truth

All of the most powerful moments of my life have been from the perspective of humility. I've knelt before the Lord in fear and sacrifice. I've surrendered myself to become a couple, greater than the sum of our parts. I've looked up at the stars in an empty soccer field, and the solitude of being one man crept through my nerves in a physical sense. Pride is what topples us, makes us believe we are worthy of all of God's gifts, and makes us take others for granted.

Sprouting from our humility is the power of untethered identity. Although we are small, we cannot let ourselves feel reduced to an unremarkable drop in an ocean, but rather we must be a part of the world with a purpose. We are free, and must all be free in our beliefs and talents. And only with this freedom can we be together, a force of individuals.

In this, we find strength in community. To cooperate with our neighbors and function as a larger body, to protect each other from injustice and injury, and to build lasting and powerful friendships, for the sake of ourselves and all of mankind.

It stems from this that we should value a nurturing spirit. To care for each other is everyone's lifelong responsibility. To heal the sick and make bodies well, to embrace the brokenhearted and make minds strong, and to celebrate all souls and make them bright. Our commission is to live for the improvement of ourselves as well as each other.

Finally, truth is the domain in which we exist by necessity. To be honest and open with one another, and to seek, always, a greater understanding of science, humanity, and goodness.