Celebrating the small victories

You may have noticed that I occasionally talk about "small victories" here, and I've always meant to say a bit more about why. So when I found an article a few months ago about The Secret to Happiness and Productivity at Work (spoiler alert: it's keeping track of small victories), I copied the link and put it aside into my "this-would-be-good-to-blog-about" file. With the realization that identifying small victories isn't just helpful for YAVs, I thought I'd finally get around to sharing it.

As I mentioned in August, I attended a week-long YAV orientation before I came to Belfast. Every Young Adult Volunteer for the 2012-13 year went to New York to get to know one another, but also to prepare ourselves for a year of mission service, whether it be in Nashville or Kenya. We were joined by former YAVs who told us their stories in preparation for the challenges we might face - learning about culture shock, self-care and community living.

One of the people we met was Ellie Roscher, who wrote the book How Coffee Saved My Life: And Other Stories of Stumbling to Grace, based on her year in Uruguay. She was cheerful and funny and dynamic, and told horror stories about dietary challenges and personality conflicts. Based on her experiences, some of the advice she gave was to shift what a "victory" means. She talked about changing her definition of success and motivating herself by celebrating the small victories each day. I will include some of my favorites from her list here:

I laughed more than I cried. 
I won the affection of preschoolers. 
I did things that scared me every day. 
I wore only two pairs of pants all year. 
I came to believe that my worth does not, indeed, depend on my productivity.
I taught Ignacio how to tie his shoes and blow bubbles with gum.

 Ellie Roscher, How Coffee Saved My Life

Sometimes, I am good at this. Like this post, or this one. Most of the time, I'm not. I get caught up in busy schedules or rainy days, and I get grumpy. I add up the grievances as the day goes on: "...I lost my keys, so I missed my bus. I had to walk in the rain and my iPod died. Now I'm late, wet and annoyed." This leaves me with a negative view of the entire day, and by letting these thoughts consume me I push out all opportunities to see the good. What if instead of adding up the negatives each day, I tallied the best parts?

I've learned that if you think negative thoughts long enough they will consume your reality, and that's not the kind of person I want to be. So I have decided that when presented with a choice, I will choose to be positive. Enjoy the walk, the fresh air and exercise, the chance to clear my head. To see the rainbow instead of the rain.

No. It is not easy. I've been working on this for weeks and I've failed miserably at just about every opportunity. I've justified it to myself as "being honest about my true feelings", but the truth is that a good attitude can become a good habit with practice, even if that means faking it until you make it.

So in that spirit, some of my more recent accomplishments:

• Remembered to take the recycling to the kerb (curb) this morning
• Was greeted with a huge grin by a wee boy from mums and tots
• Finished a very detailed report at work - it was so great to cross that off the list!
• Completed my first solo overnight travel to Dublin 

What about you? What are your victories (large or small) this week?

Two months in...

I can't quite believe it, but as of this morning, I have been in Belfast for two months! I've done a lot since arriving...

• Proved to myself that I could move to a foreign country
• Dipped my toes in the Irish Sea
• Mastered public transportation
• Made countless new friends and acquaintances
• Voted by absentee ballot
• Explored a new city and began to learn about its historical impact
• Hosted my first guests
• Successfully planned (and executed) various lesson plans
• Climbed Cave Hill
• Tried all sorts of disgusting-sounding potato chip flavors
• Taken time each day to notice and appreciate my surroundings
• Kissed a fish
• Become proficient at picking out American accents in the vicinity
• Learned how to lock my front door!
• Rid our apartment of mice (I hope)
• Discovered a deep love of Tunnock's Tea Cakes
• Learned to understand (most) local accents and expressions

Of course, it's not all sunshine all the time... I still have challenges and frustrations as I adapt to this new culture. I will say that besides the obvious people, the things I miss most are the clothes dryer and my Grasshoppers CSA subscription. I also miss my car, especially when walking home after buying groceries!

I have a few longer blog posts I'm still formulating in my head, but I wanted to check in and let you know I'm still alive and well! 

Until next time, 

T.

A break from the busyness

Double rainbow - what does it mean?!

Today was good.

David agreed to take me on the Cave Hill hike I missed a few weeks ago, and the weather was perfect for the trek. Apparently my daily walk to work hasn't been quite as taxing as I'd hoped, because I found myself to be quite out of breath on the way up! While my body is exhausted and empty this evening, my spirit is full. Today was just what I needed.

For those who don't know, Cave Hill is a prominent feature visible from most of Belfast. The outcropping of rock resembles the profile of Napoleon, tri-corner hat and all, and is said to be the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. It is just about 2 miles from our house, but this was the first time I'd made the trip.

It was so refreshing to be out in nature. The scenery is gorgeous, and reminded me what is so special about the place that I now call home. I've been so bogged down in bus schedules, difficult interactions with young people at work, rainy days and late nights in the office, that I forget to take a look at the wider picture and appreciate what is around me. I didn't get any photos of the more foresty bits of the trail, but just picture Fern Gully meets Never Never Land. The wind rustling in the leaves reminded me to breathe for the first time in weeks.

About halfway up. We're going to the very top!

 

My mind wandered most of the way up the trail. Every challenge I encountered became a symbol of things I've been struggling with for the past few weeks: the feeling of helplessness as I couldn't find my footing in the slick mud, my initial unwillingness to get my hands dirty. The difficulty I find in admitting my weaknesses and reaching out for (or accepting) a friend's hand to pull me up. Thankfully, David was a patient guide, letting me stop often to catch my breath (under the guise of taking a photo) and take my own sweet time getting up the path.  

Surprise rain storm!

I may have labeled today's post under "small victories" - but I think overall, reaching the summit was much more than that for me today. The gift I have been given, allowing me to spend this year in a place that feels so close to the divine, should not be forgotten. I need to take more time to enjoy the journey!

View from the top

I've sung in mountain cathedrals, with steeples rising high. With altars made of evergreens and windows made of sky...

Success!

Small victories

I've made it through my first week in Belfast!

After a week of running around, visiting sites and learning how to do even the simplest tasks in the city, we escaped to the country for the day on Saturday. We visited the Loughinisland churches, gorgeous ruins which range from the 13th to the 17th century, on our way to the beach at Murlough National Nature Reserve.

Loughinisland:

Murlough:

 

Toes in the Irish Sea!

Sunday was our first day in our congregations, and I had a lovely time. After the service, a few of us went out for pizza, then Claire took me for a wee dander about the City Centre (a dander is a bit of an aimless stroll). We had a lot of fun. I even kissed a fish!

Claire and the "Salmon of Knowledge"

I was glad to get home and have the opportunity to put a few things in order at our flat in the afternoon, though. It's amazing how just a few changes can make a fully-furnished apartment start to feel a bit more personal. Today and tomorrow will be our last for orientation, and I begin my full-time YAV-ness on Wednesday. It looks like my schedule will be pretty full, so I'm excited to get into the swing of things!

At our Stony Point orientation, we learned about celebrating the small victories whenever you enter a new culture. So here are a few things that I'm currently quite proud of:

• Any time I manage to lock or unlock my front door on the first try
• Getting on the bus and making it down to the PCI offices without incident this morning
• Cleaning and reorganizing the apartment yesterday afternoon
• Capturing that massive spider