November to-do list

I don't know about you, but I am all about checklists.  In college, I would write down my daily assignments in my planner, looking forward to the proud moment when I could cross the item off my list.  And I must admit, I am totally one of those people who would add an already finished assignment onto my list just so that I could have the satisfaction of crossing it off.  There is something so exciting about that physical action of drawing a line through it, isn't there?

Maybe that's part of the reason that for me, lists are not just a good reminder, but a good motivation to get it things done.  That's why, as I'm linking up with Hayley over at The Tiny Twig, who challenged us to join her in making goals for the month of November, I'm calling it my November To-Do list instead of my November goals.  For some reason, the idea of goals sometimes feels too far fetched.  Simply throwing the title "to-do list" up there makes me feel like my goals are way more attainable.  It's totally a mental thing, I get that.  But for me, it helps!

With that said, here is my list of to-dos for the month of November.

• get a lil Christmas shopping done [buy at least 3 gifts]
• CELEBRATE 2 YEARS WITH MY HUBBY
• read A Million Little Things
• go to Body Pump once a week
• hang some pictures on the walls
• write November goals post
• go to Puerto Rico!!!

Notice how I added the one item that I can already check off the list?  :) I couldn't help myself.

One thing that I thought about as I put together this little list, is how important it is to me that my list isn't just made up of things I'd like to get done, but also a reminder to celebrate special moments and choose to make joyful activities a part of my goals.  It's so easy to think of goals as all the gruesome, hard things that we kinda don't want to do, but feel we should.  But why??  Last year, I declared somewhat of a 2013 resolution- that I wanted to be more in love with life, by being intentional about choosing joy in any way that I could.  I loved this little challenge I gave myself, and was significantly encouraged by the discipline that I built to make joyful opportunities happen and reflect on those blessings by sharing some on my blog.  Like this one for example.  Putting joyful activities on my list of to-dos is just another way I hope to carry on this discipline.

In John 10, Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." My prayer is that your November may also be full, not just with the things that you need to get done, but with many intentionally joyful activities.