Notes on a self improvement project

The last of my goals, and the one that I will be talking about the most, is a goal I created to live both a happier and a healthier life.  This goal is to try a new recipe at least 2 times per month...AND share it with someone else.  Preferably a human and not my dogs.  They think whatever I do is awesome, so their opinion doesn't really count. This goal is intended to help me grow as a person.  I need to do something outside of my comfort zone, and I am just not the kind of person who will do things like skydiving or mountain climbing, or even skiing.  So I figured that I had a repertoire of like 5 recipes I was comfortable with, and I was never that good at domestic type things, so this was a good way to put myself out there, force myself to try new things, and maybe develop some useful skills along the way.  I put in the caveat that I had to share the finished product with someone else to really ensure that I am actually growing because of this go...

The next of my goals was to lead a happier, healthier and more productive life, and the goal was to write creatively for at least one hour per week.  The hour is intended to be a minimum amount, and as time goes on, I want to increase this minimum amount. Writing has always been something I enjoy doing, and it is something I'm pretty good at.  I think I have a certain amount of talent. I don't expect to ever have my writing be published or anything like that, but I think it is good for me to do, anyway.  I sort of lose myself in the story, and it makes me happy to do it.  I feel as though I'm meant to write.  I feel an affinity with words and I am most myself when I am creating stories and characters. I think it also makes me emotionally healthier.  I think I can work out some of my problems or issues or whatever with the characters.  One of my creative writing instructors said that once, that writers are some of the healthiest people because they ...

The next goal I created for myself was another goal to live a happier life, and this goal is to stop saying "I'm sorry" or apologizing so often.  I have a habit of using that phrase or a similar type of apology quite often, and usually not for something I actually did or had any control over.  It is a habit of speech that is ingrained after basically a lifetime.    There is a specific reason I added this goal to my list.   Someone I care about a great deal pointed it out to me recently.  What may have really resonated with me was that my friend also said that I didn't have anything to apologize for.  Others have mentioned the "I'm sorry" thing in the past, but this time, the observation really made an impact.   I'm not sure why I formed this habit, but I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that I was a picked-on kid in school.  From about 3rd grade until midway through high school, I don't remember ever feeling good about my...