Single & Lovin' it?

I had an epiphany. 

I need to be true to myself. I need to listen to my body, my thoughts, my emotions, my mind. 

There is no unchart-able territory in my heart/mind.  I must not be afraid to explore the deep darkness of my mind/heart/body/soul.

I must do everything I can to remain happy, preserve my sanity, and enjoy life. 

Who said that being single was bad/boring/lonely/hell?

These may be the best years of my life!

So I made a bucket list of things to do in the interim while I'm waiting to exhale. I need to (in no particular order).......

1. Travel - Norway, Morocco, Germany, France, across West Africa

2. Learn - new things like new sports, a new language, new life/practical skills

3. Read - more recreational books, novels

4. Dream - dream big, take on new challenges, start a big-picture/macro project

I'm currently reading books by:

-John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath)

-Rohan Mistry (A Fine Balance), 

-Anton Chekhov (The Steppe)

To-do Book List:

- Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
- Freakonomics by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt
- Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer
- Conquering your Quarterlife Crisis
- Twenty-Something Manifesto
- Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X. 
- Wounds of Passion by bell hooks
- Bluest Eye
- A Woman's Worth by Tracy Price Thompson
- In the Spirit by Susan Taylor
- A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
- The Glass Menagerie
- Brainwashed: Challenging the myths of black inferiority by Tom Burell 

- and many more books by African Authors.

This epiphany suddenly hit me because for a while back there, I had been feeling like I was waiting for something big to occur before my life would start "happening". I'm talking grand events, a big sign, thunder/lightning in the sky...

And in the past, I had a linear plan. Get into school. Do my graduate research. Finish my dissertation. Get a job. Get hitched. Birth youngins...etc. But I couldn't help thinking that there's gotta be more to life than...

Anyway, in my linear plan, I didn't allot time for true personal growth or the pursuit of spirituality. I just assumed these things would happen along the way as a consequence of all the other plans I was carrying out. So it turned out that there was growth in many areas of my life but yet so many more areas of me still need work. 

I know. I'm a masterpiece in progress.

So here I am, on September 1st, 2010, doing a much-needed reassessment of my life. And saying to myself that I have to make a concerted effort to actually live my life. I re-pledge to live deliberately from this moment. That is, to be an active agent of my own change and not that which is acted upon.

So if you're reading this entry, what areas of you still need work? And what are you doing to grow as a person?