I have been quite busy lately! I have felt like I have been in a stand still in life for the past year or so and have been struggling to find "the answer" and no, no matter how much I have tried to make sense of it, this time I don't think it has anything to do with 42 (Douglas Adams).
Anyhow, I have huge aspirations to start a non-profit organization focused on helping people become independent, focused and productive. It also encourages small business and establishing tight-knit communities. I have had this idea growing for a few years and just started seriously getting into it these past two months. I thought I was really going somewhere and then I hit a stumbling block.
So now I'm not quite sure what to do. After a lot of prayer, fasting and discussion with my wife, we decided that I should start the non-profit, just not now. Right now we are kind of stressed about finances. Don't get me wrong, we're not poor or anything. As a matter of fact, we are actually doing quite well since we use a budget. It's just that we are at the limit of our budget right now and it stresses us out. We don't like being on the edge. A lot of people live that way and are okay with it...but we don't like it.
Needless to say, investing in a non-profit just isn't conducive to a strapped budget. So, the non-profit is on hold and I'm trying to figure out other things to do to help with our financial situation. Of course I could try to work my way up the corporate ladder at McKesson, where I work, but I've been trying to do that and it hasn't really worked out. I'm still trying but the truth is that I think the answer is elsewhere.
The one thing that I have been focusing on the most is getting things right between me and the Lord. I feel that He will not show me the way if I am not doing what He wants me to do. Or, what is probably even more true, the Lord may be showing me the way, it may be staring me in the face and I may just not be able to see it because my vision is not completely centered on Christ or where He would have it be.
As such, I've been doing a lot of things to strengthen my relationship with Christ. I have been working hard at being a better home teacher and at magnifying my calling as Ward Mission Leader. I have also been working on doing a true "study" of the scriptures and recording my thoughts and feelings in journals. Of course I have been doing ten tons (yes, I weighed it and that's how much it was) of praying, fasting, and going to the temple (though I do need to go to the temple a whole lot more). I am also trying to be a better husband and father for my family. So I'm trying. Heavenly Father knows that I am really trying!
As for attempting to find the answer to my question of what to do, I have tried many avenues. One that has been lingering on my mind is my Patriarchal Blessing. It talks about me needing to utilize all of my skills and abilities to provide for my family. Ever since I received my blessing, I have interpreted this to mean that I was going to do some sort of free-lancing, doing odd jobs of some sort. In the past 5 years or so, I've started to think of things it may mean.
For example, I love board games with a passion and have the makings of 3 almost 4 in various prototype stages. Making a board game is actually extremely similar to writing a book. You right the rules, get someone to do the art if needed, submit it to a publisher, and they produce the game for you at a cost with you getting a cut of the profits. So that is one direction I can take. Create a board game and publish it.
On that note, even though I don't do it often, I also enjoy writing! I have two ideas for novels. One of which I have already started the brainstorming process on. That doesn't mean that I am trying to get ideas...I have the ideas already. That means I am trying to figure out how to link the ideas together and expound upon them. I have actually made some really good progress on it and am seriously considering turning it into a trilogy. I know, trilogies are becoming second rate now adays. Everyone is doing trilogies taking really good ideas and making them a lot longer and drawn out than they need to be. All the same, I can't help but be enticed by the idea and I know that I can do it.
So that is where I stand right now. I am job hunting of course, but I am also seriously considering writing and publishing my novel. The funny irony of it all is that I have been so busy starting this website that I haven't had a chance to work on my novel recently at all...and I have been meaning to for a week now! All of the progress that I have made on it was probably a year ago. I haven't really picked it up since. Well, there is a website/challenge called NANOWRIMO. It stands for "NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth" and has been dubbed November. That is coming soon. Perhaps I should enter and just push my book out.
On somewhat of a side note, though not completely unrelated, I just recently re-read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It is an awesome book! I read it in high school and absolutely LOVED it! Maybe because I saw a lot of myself in that book, not just as one or more of the characters, but also as Card. I think of how I would have written it. What I would have done better or different. The movie is coming out in November (it's going to be a good month!) and I am totally stoked to see it! So I thought this was a great time to read the book again. It gets my writing juices flowing and refreshes my memory in preparation for the movie. It didn't take me but three days to read it again. Yeah...I like it!
So, that is what I've been up to recently. We'll see how things go. I'll probably tell you a little about my book in a future post. In the meantime, here is a trailer for the upcoming Ender's Game movie. Yes, it has Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff. Excellent choice! I was a little disappointed that the rumors were not fulfilled in having Sean Connery play Mazer Rakham, but I think Ben Kingsley is a great choice as well! Enjoy the movie!
Anyhow, I have huge aspirations to start a non-profit organization focused on helping people become independent, focused and productive. It also encourages small business and establishing tight-knit communities. I have had this idea growing for a few years and just started seriously getting into it these past two months. I thought I was really going somewhere and then I hit a stumbling block.
So now I'm not quite sure what to do. After a lot of prayer, fasting and discussion with my wife, we decided that I should start the non-profit, just not now. Right now we are kind of stressed about finances. Don't get me wrong, we're not poor or anything. As a matter of fact, we are actually doing quite well since we use a budget. It's just that we are at the limit of our budget right now and it stresses us out. We don't like being on the edge. A lot of people live that way and are okay with it...but we don't like it.
Needless to say, investing in a non-profit just isn't conducive to a strapped budget. So, the non-profit is on hold and I'm trying to figure out other things to do to help with our financial situation. Of course I could try to work my way up the corporate ladder at McKesson, where I work, but I've been trying to do that and it hasn't really worked out. I'm still trying but the truth is that I think the answer is elsewhere.
The one thing that I have been focusing on the most is getting things right between me and the Lord. I feel that He will not show me the way if I am not doing what He wants me to do. Or, what is probably even more true, the Lord may be showing me the way, it may be staring me in the face and I may just not be able to see it because my vision is not completely centered on Christ or where He would have it be.
As such, I've been doing a lot of things to strengthen my relationship with Christ. I have been working hard at being a better home teacher and at magnifying my calling as Ward Mission Leader. I have also been working on doing a true "study" of the scriptures and recording my thoughts and feelings in journals. Of course I have been doing ten tons (yes, I weighed it and that's how much it was) of praying, fasting, and going to the temple (though I do need to go to the temple a whole lot more). I am also trying to be a better husband and father for my family. So I'm trying. Heavenly Father knows that I am really trying!
As for attempting to find the answer to my question of what to do, I have tried many avenues. One that has been lingering on my mind is my Patriarchal Blessing. It talks about me needing to utilize all of my skills and abilities to provide for my family. Ever since I received my blessing, I have interpreted this to mean that I was going to do some sort of free-lancing, doing odd jobs of some sort. In the past 5 years or so, I've started to think of things it may mean.
For example, I love board games with a passion and have the makings of 3 almost 4 in various prototype stages. Making a board game is actually extremely similar to writing a book. You right the rules, get someone to do the art if needed, submit it to a publisher, and they produce the game for you at a cost with you getting a cut of the profits. So that is one direction I can take. Create a board game and publish it.
On that note, even though I don't do it often, I also enjoy writing! I have two ideas for novels. One of which I have already started the brainstorming process on. That doesn't mean that I am trying to get ideas...I have the ideas already. That means I am trying to figure out how to link the ideas together and expound upon them. I have actually made some really good progress on it and am seriously considering turning it into a trilogy. I know, trilogies are becoming second rate now adays. Everyone is doing trilogies taking really good ideas and making them a lot longer and drawn out than they need to be. All the same, I can't help but be enticed by the idea and I know that I can do it.
So that is where I stand right now. I am job hunting of course, but I am also seriously considering writing and publishing my novel. The funny irony of it all is that I have been so busy starting this website that I haven't had a chance to work on my novel recently at all...and I have been meaning to for a week now! All of the progress that I have made on it was probably a year ago. I haven't really picked it up since. Well, there is a website/challenge called NANOWRIMO. It stands for "NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth" and has been dubbed November. That is coming soon. Perhaps I should enter and just push my book out.
On somewhat of a side note, though not completely unrelated, I just recently re-read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It is an awesome book! I read it in high school and absolutely LOVED it! Maybe because I saw a lot of myself in that book, not just as one or more of the characters, but also as Card. I think of how I would have written it. What I would have done better or different. The movie is coming out in November (it's going to be a good month!) and I am totally stoked to see it! So I thought this was a great time to read the book again. It gets my writing juices flowing and refreshes my memory in preparation for the movie. It didn't take me but three days to read it again. Yeah...I like it!
So, that is what I've been up to recently. We'll see how things go. I'll probably tell you a little about my book in a future post. In the meantime, here is a trailer for the upcoming Ender's Game movie. Yes, it has Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff. Excellent choice! I was a little disappointed that the rumors were not fulfilled in having Sean Connery play Mazer Rakham, but I think Ben Kingsley is a great choice as well! Enjoy the movie!