Preseverance IS key

Well Bff, I guess this post proves why we are such good friends.  It has taken me all day and an hour to sit down and write, but here I am.  Like yourself, I am determined to persevere towards the goals that I've set for myself.  I made the deadline for the BOSA competition, but I missed the next deadline.  I sort of got the last two contests confused, so I was preparing for the wrong one at the wrong time.  I plan to make up for it by entering another contest.  The contest that I'll enter will be the Contemporary Christian Songwriting Contest, which has a deadline of July 30, 2011.

       While I can't say that I am going to new places every month, I have started tennis lessons.  This was something that was on my list, so I do feel that it's a step in the right direction.  I'm still looking for other avenues that might lead me to my desired results with my songwriting.   In any event, I believe that preseverance will be the key factor.

                                                                                           -Daphne-

No Excuses

As you can see from the date stamps, I haven't posted in over a month for which I have no excuse.  There are reasons like apathy, laziness, and procrastination and these reasons are a prime example of why my dreams tend to be deferred.  The good thing about the blog is that I have to continue to push forward as I have committed and my bff holds me accountable.  Thanks Dap!

Right now, I am in the process of completing the paper work for Dallas Baptist Univeristy to pursue a Masters in Christian Education.  Prayerfully that door will be opened so that I may walk through it.  I attended my sister's graduation last week and was very inspired by her dedication and perseverance.  Ahh...Perseverance!  I have discovered that perseverance is key to accomplishing your goals.  My sister, while working a full-time job, gained 2 Masters degrees in 5 years.  For some, it may have not taken as long but my sister continued "pressing towards the mark".  Dap, I think you referred to this as "chipping away".  Well, I agree!  Regardless of our challenges and setbacks, we have to continue to persevere and we will get there.

I do believe!

~ Tonya

Chip away

I did it!  I'm so proud of myself!  I sent the song to Shae about a week ago and I am simply ecstatic!  The bulk of my excitement stems from the mere fact that I was able to accomplish a goal that I set for myself.  You have no idea how long this goal has seemed impossible to accomplish.  Granted, it wasn't a walk in the park, but determination and persistence won in the end.  Now, on to 2nd quarter goals.  I've decided to enter several songwriting competitions this quarter.  The first is Bosa.  The deadline to submit material is April 29th, which is right around the corner, so I'm frantically working to meet this deadline.  The second competition ends on May 31st-The USA Songwriting Competition.  The last contest is called the Next Classic Love Song Competion and it ends on June 18th.  No doubt about it,  I'll definitely be busy for the remainder of the quarter.

Unfortunately, I've been so focused on finding reasons to write songs, that I haven't thought a lot about the outings that I should take this quarter.  I stated last quarter that instead of one big event, I'll venture out every month.  Since the end of this month is fastly approaching, I'll have to find something to do pretty quickly.  I'll bring those ideas to my next post. 

I have a question.  I've been thinking long and hard about what I'd like to accomplish.  Sometimes it overwhelms me, because I don't see how it's possible.  How do you attempt to accomplish something that seems to be impossible?  Maybe you chip away at it, huh...

                                                              -Daphne-

Our God....

is an awesome God!  I can't say that I've recently had major changes in my life that would cause me to want to honor God now.  However, listening to stories of others has caused me to want to give God all of the props not only for what He does but for who He is.  Many times we feel as if we are spinning our wheels to no avail but God is always in control and if we continue to place our trust in Him, we should have no worries or fears.  Knowing this allows me to continue to pursue my dreams because I know that it is He who gave them to me. 

With that said, I'm just excited about life right now.  The first quarter was good and I'm glad to be moving into the 2nd quarter.  I joined Toastmasters which was one of my goals for the 1st quarter.  I am also prepping to teach classes through our Christian education ministry at church.  My plan for the 2nd quarter is to continue to stay the course and include some volunteer work for various non profits.  I do have some ideas in my head so hopefully, I will be blogging about those soon.

Happy Dreaming!!!

~ Tonya

Go with the flow!

Well, the end of the first quarter is approaching.  It's been an adventure.  Well, I am happy to report that I did attend Savor Dallas.  It was absolutely wonderful!  There was so much good food.  I enjoyed myself so much that I plan to attend again next year.  I took a few pics that night, just to prove that I actually graced the event with my presence. 
    
I must confess, I didn't accomplish all of my 1st quarter goals.  I suffered a major setback on my songwriting, but I haven't given up on it yet.  I was unable to transfer my song from a tape to a cd, but I hope to purchase the machine that I need to do this within the next few weeks.  Giving up is simply not an option, and the fact that I didn't meet my March 31st deadline will not deter me from accomplishing the goal.  Now, it's time for me to start thinking about 2nd quarter.  What shall I do?  I'll have an answer for this question on my next post.

I'm really excited about what the new quarter holds.  Like yourself, I am seeing many things that I've never seen before and I am realizing that a lot of what I deem to be complicated, is simply me wanting to completely analyze the situation.  Instead, I should simply go with the flow.  That seems to be my mantra for this year.  I really don't have to know everything from A-Z.  Right now, all I need is "A."   So, I'll roll with that and ask questions about "B" when I get to that point.

One step closer

Well, March is almost ending and I feel very good in terms of my progress.  Today, I attended my first of many Toastmasters' meeting.  I'm so excited because I had been planning to attend since last year and of course procrastination was the culprit in hindering me from attending the meetings.  So there!  I did it!

Now that we are embarking on the 2nd quarter, my goals are to begin building out that new idea I shared with you.  Not quite ready to share it on the blog but once it gets closer to completion I will definitely be sharing. 

Can I just say that God is so awesome!  I've been reading Proverbs and each day it has blessed me and I can see where God is showing me and teaching me new life applications so that I may have the wisdom of which I've been praying.

Sorry for my random thoughts, I'm just in a good place right now and can't contain my excitement.

~ Tonya

Possibilities

Tweaking...I like that.  I've thought about this a great deal.  One of the things that stands out is that in order to tweak something, it's gotta be at least half right. You don't have to start from the beginning, you simply begin making adjustments from the point that you began drifting off course.  I think of it like driving, when the car starts to veer off course, you simply adjust the wheel slightly.  Yanking the wheel from side to side is much too drastic to keep the car on the road.  Tweaking...I like that!

Well, we're headed into the 2nd quarter of 2011. The month of March is racing to  it's end.  I must say that I'm still excited about this year.  There is still a lot to accomplish.  Life is still full of possiblilities and with a little bit of hard work and some tweaking, who knows what can happen!