Personal Goal Setting Entails Being a Visionary of Sorts

Courtesy: myfashionlife.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - It's not quite yet the starting line for New Years Resolutions, this being only Thanksgiving Week 2010. But it is fast approaching yet another birthday and a time to chart out my future.

A dear friend from Portland recently termed me a "visionary" and my wife prodded me to reveal my future goals in whatever time on Earth still remains. Thus, I reflected and sorted out the pieces.

It's true that life is a living jigsaw puzzle. Assembling all those tidbits is the ongoing challenge.

My first goal does indeed involve challenges. They tend to crop up whether you ask for them or not. My hope and prayer is to have the flexibility to deal with whatever comes my way whether positive or negative or simply a great enigma. I want to retain that tenacity never to get discouraged or derailed. That is, to muster the inner courage not to cave in but move forward.

I vividly recall Dr. Charles Guzetta, a social work professor I had many years ago. In his letter of reference, he wrote: "Barry-Lee is that unusual sort of person who when faced with a pitfall in the road will pick himself up, dust himself off, and never looking back will stride forward to life's next challenge".

Let's hope I can measure up to his standard.

My second goal worth pursuing involves interaction with others. Whenever I meet a stranger causually I purposely want to add a bit of cheer and lightness to their hectic day. I love to banter and it has become one of my unofficial trademarks.

Example: If in an elevator headed upward when I intended to go down, I might say, "Glad for the chance to head up to that rarified air of Heaven. As it happens, I seem to be going in the opposite direction to the devil's domain. Before I get there it would be nice to get a glimpse of the other place".

Being ad lib ready is a skill I truly enjoy. It is my mission to leave others with a smile in their hearts. It's well worth the effort!

Salem-News.com Community Writer Barry Lee Coyne brings to our readers stories from his combined career of journalism and gerontology, and explains that these paths shaped his values. Lee Coyne once worked for The Civil Service Leader in NY State and covered the Legislature. He has also done features on mediation and arbitration, and believes in healthy skepticism. This writer-therapist often views the world as the masks of comedy and tragedy placed upon the scales of justice. For him, optimism inevitably wins. "Lyrical Lee" has traveled to 30 nations aboard and was once a press intern at the UN. His first published article was in The NY Daily News in '59, dealing with the need for integrity in public office.

He also launched the nation's first tele-conference on health education for shut-ins, created the Eldermentors project in VA to pair retirees with immigrant students needing role models, and was the main catalyst behind CCTV's "Public Public" panel show here in Salem. Lee received his BA in International Relations and an MSW in community organization. He currently serves as a member of Salem's Library Advisory Board. To send Lee an email, please write to this address: luckycoyne@yahoo.com