In Pursuit of Excellence

I'm inspired to excellence these days. 

• Inspired by excellence I see in one of my co-workers. 
• Inspired by the beauty that excellence creates. 
• Inspired by the need to reflect excellence as a way of mirroring God's love and purity.
• Inspired by the difference that increasing the excellence in the quality of food I eat makes in my energy level - proving that excellence had rewards!
• Inspired by excellent writing in books like "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and "The Scarlet Letter."
• Inspired by my own general lack of excellence and the consequences that leads to - like being out of control in so many ways.

But I have a long way to go to achieve excellence.

I want it in all areas of my life!  Why? 

• Because it glorifies God. 
• Because it is emotionally rewarding to know I did well. 
• Because it allows me to achieve my goals. 
• Because even if I don't get all the things I want having worked at the level of excellence means there is no room for regret.

What do I need to do to attain excellence?  That's a good question.  Probably pray with out ceasing for one.  Because without prayer I'm not really able to much of anything well - oh, I can pretend, but really, I can't actually do it well.

Next, I need to get organized.  It is really hard to be excellent at anything when you are surrounded by chaos.  And right now, I'm surrounded by chaos of my own making - I just cannot seem to keep my house clean.  It's been a challenge always, but especially the past six or seven months since I got sick, figured out what the issue was, began to recover, and then just never got caught up before starting my job in January.

Nevertheless, I must get organized now!  Starting with getting taxes done, then office billing, and then, by March 7th, I want my house clean!  I mean even the basement rooms that company will never see need to be clean!  All of it.  Clutter removed, grime cleaned, closets organized, windows all spiffy.

Then, the challenge will be to keep it all clean.  So, I'll need some systems of excellence - schedules, help from my two guys, restrictions on number of activities so things don't get out of hand again.

And once I get the house clean and organized, what am I going to pursue next?  Excellence of course. 

• Excellence in my spiritual life, including more time in the Word, some time to serve others, and excellence in my role as wife and mother.  I want to be joyful as I meet my family's needs.  I want to praise God for the opportunities I have to be with my family!
• Excellence in photography - like start taking more photos, engaging in photo challenges on web sites, save my money for classes locally.

• Excellence in art - from scrapbooking to mixed media to fabrics!  I want to be better.  I want to finish projects.  I want to make things that I can enjoy! 
• Continued excellence in my job - it is one of the places where I feel like I'm attaining some excellence.