wookieshark88

It's been quite a while since I've posted so I thought it would be good to revisit my list. I successfully accomplished my first three goals of graduating, having a second child, and getting an engineering job! Of course, this was all while being video game free. It's time to remake my list as priorities change. 1. Pay off the bigger of my student loans. That thing is seriously cramping my style. 2. Get a job in an architecture firm. It has to be a firm that allows for a good work life balance. I have no desire to miss out on my family for any kind of work. 3. Get a bigger house. The family is outgrowing this one! 4. Start masters degree. This one depends on how life goes. I'm not even sure I will care about this in the future.

I really hope that I can earn my bachelor's degree by the end of this academic year. However, I hope that it isn't my last year of school because I have grown to love learning and I want to get my master's degree and architecture license. It will probably be my last year of school for a few years though. I have my plans, but I know through experience that they almost never work out exactly. Still, it's a good framework that guides me in the direction I want to go. For now, it looks like this: Get bachelor's degreeMake baby #2Get an engineering job at my companyGet a job at an architecture firmGet master's degreeGet architecture licenseCreate my own firm???ProfitObserve flying pigsPlay video gamesIt's kind of ironic that goals are so important in life even if they don't work out at all. There's something about of choosing a path and following it that makes everything, even the unexpected plot twists so much more enriching than just bumbling along. My life is so far removed from what I had ever imagined back in high school, and that's an amazing thing. The unpredictable nature in life has almost always ended up giving me my most treasured memories, possessions, and relationships. I'm thankful for: Overcoming so many fears in my life.Running around outside and using sidewalk chalk with my baby.The new chapter in my life that's about to begin.

This weekend was great. We were able to do the farmer's market, hiking, the beach, and chores. We were very mindful to not rush and just enjoy all of it. Sometimes we get caught up in trying to pack way too much into a few days and it takes away from the time. I've found that being consistent in my efforts combined with good prioritizing and realistic expectations is the best way to go. Now that I'm going to be going to school in a few weeks, I find that I'm appreciating my work a little bit more. It's a nice feeling that I didn't really expect to have. I'm ready to give it my best effort this week at work to make sure that I leave on the best terms possible. I'm thankful for: The weather cooling down a bit after quite a few days over 90 degrees.Learning more life lessons on a regular basis.Not having any video game dreams for a while.

Today was a really good day. After work, we went to a new Mexican restaurant that opened up within walking distance of our house. It was pretty good, and I think we'll be going back at some point. From there, we went to the farmer's market to pick up some fresh veggies to batch cook for next week. We wrapped up the day by going for a nice hike. I'm really tired so I'm just going to keep this short. I'm thankful for: Seeing some fantastic journals around this site. I love that we're not alone in our game quitting adventures.Getting some things done today that I've been trying to accomplish for a few months.Relaxing with my wife and cats right now.

Good for you on getting rid of Steam! That thing is the bane of my existence.

You seriously honor me with your words. When people compliment me like you have just done, I always use it as an inspiration to live up to those words. I promise I won't be doing any Bill Cosby or Jared Fogle style flameouts on you. Bless you too! Today was another average day with successful habits. I have a nice little meditation streak going again. The momentum I've built by restarting my journal and reading around the forums a bit has given me the extra bit of motivation I needed to not hit the snooze button and meditate in the morning. Meditation is such a nice little treat for my mind. All I need to do is make the easy choice of doing it. As I slowly make my way through the Slight Edge again, I found my favorite passage in the whole book. "Happiness is the key to success, not the other way around." I've been using that phrase a lot over the last year to fuel my progress in life. The funny thing is that I completely forgot that I first read it in the Slight Edge. It's been my theme through this whole journey. In my past, I have had other sayings that I have collected during periods of crisis and the personal growth that accompanied it. I think I'll just list them so that I have them all in one place. Mistakes in life are inevitable. It's what you do afterwards that makes all the difference.Anxiety is a terrible motivator.Happiness is the key to success, not the other way around.I guess those are the three main Joe proverbs so far in my life. I'm interested to find out what the next one will be. I'm thankful for: Taking a shower after a long day. I took two walks in the gross heat today so washing off was such a great feeling.The internet. I've used it today to share my journey, gain inspiration, stay current on world events, listen to world class educators, and unwind with a show.The healthy dinner that I'm about to eat.

Today was another good day. I did meditation, walking, and am now working on my journal. Work was an average day, which is a good thing. I had fun with my baby and got her to bed nicely. Afterwards, I did some cleaning around the house. I finished listening to a whole semester of one of the online Yale courses. It was phenomenal. The professor who gave the lectures was so skillful in her narratives, progression, and especially the conclusion of the class. I'll probably listen to it again at some point. My back is healing nicely. I had no sharp pain during my appointment today for the first time since my injury. There's a general stiffness and occasional dull pain, but that's a world better than what it was. I'm thankful for: Having the house nice and clean before my wife got home.The new perspectives I've gained from reading and listening.The reputation I have with my boss at work for being a diligent worker who is invested in self improvement.

Thanks! It's really a different animal to deal with being a year without games. These days it's about avoiding complacency towards my goals, staying vigilant in avoiding games, and maintaining my life without the big highs and lows that come in the wake of a major life decision. In our society, we're so used to stories ending in victory or defeat after a major struggle. Because of this, I feel like were not used to thinking about what comes afterwards. This can be seen with people who reach major milestones like graduation or retirement. I think this is what ultimately made me want to revive my journal. It's important for me to continue the journey that I started even though the original goal has been achieved. Today was another good day. Last night I dreamed about my old favorite game. I've had an up tick in those kinds of dreams lately. They always involve me really enjoying the game followed by being mortified that I had fallen back into old patterns. It always takes me a while to realize that it was just a dream. I would really love to never have those dreams again. The Yale course that I've been listening to has been absolutely fascinating. I can't get enough of it! It makes work go by so much better, and I don't feel like it's a waste of my time at all. Work itself was a normal day. I'm ready to put that "normalcy" behind me. I have had a request out to have some technical errors fixed for a month. Nobody has paid any attention to it until today. All of a sudden, I'm getting a bunch of phone calls, emails, and requests for status updates about it. I keep telling the hoards of people inquiring that I was the one who initiated the request, and I can't tell them when I'll be provided with the information. Nobody seems to understand that they should follow up with the people who are required to respond to my request. This is par for the course at my job. I'm thankful for: Getting closer to my leave of absence.The fresh herbs from my yard that we used in our dinner.Not actually relapsing like in my dreams.

The dish washer is working like new! It's such a relief. Today was a good day. Work was just a normal and productive day. I spent the day listening to Yale University lectures that were really interesting! It's so cool that Yale puts course material online. I made some fried rice for dinner and it was awesome. I usually make it with half diced veggies and half rice because it's tastier and packed with vitamins that way. Now I'm resting and icing my back because it's a little bit stiff and sore. I did my meditation and walking today. The Yale lectures are as good as reading too. My habits have been maintained today. I'm thankful for: Having a wife who I can share goals and accomplishments with.Having fun cooking.Air conditioning. It's been hot.

Today was such a blast. We went to the beach today where we relaxed and played. It was pretty hot today, but we had our beach tent set up which was great for taking breaks out of the sun. My baby had an absolute blast playing in the sand and water too. Like usual she befriended another little kid. When we got home, our baby was pretty beat so we gave her dinner, took her for a walk, and put her to bead. After that, we worked on our chores like laundry, gardening, and general cleaning. Our dishwasher has been doing a terrible job at cleaning the dishes lately so I took it all apart and cleaned it out. It was pretty horrifying to see what was lurking in the depths. Now we have a bunch of dishes in there that I hope to see come out squeaky clean! There's too much to do in life to be wasting time washing dishes by hand. Dinner is being made, and I'm about to put some ice on my back to make sure it continues to get better. I'm thankful for: Going to a new beach. I think it's going to become our main beach!Seeing a million smiles from my wife and baby today. Life doesn't really get better than that.Relaxing with my cat after an active day.

Thank you for your kind words. Kind words have always provided me with comfort. Today was a good day. Work was fruitless today. I've been encountering some bugs in our software that currently need to be worked out. My company's IT and the software company's people are working on a solution. In the meantime, my work computer has become a web surfing machine. I talked to a coworker who has been struggling with his work, and I told him I would do whatever I can to help him out, especially if my task is unworkable. I've been able to pry out a fair bit of knowledge from the technocrats in my work group, and will be happy to disseminate it to anybody who wants to know. It's silly that some people treat knowledge like a zero sum commodity when we're just beginning a decades long project. It'll be fun to empower some people, even if just a little bit, before I take my leave of absence. After work, my family and I went to the farmer's market. That was an absolute blast. We had delicious food for dinner and picked up some beautiful produce. My baby was very social and played with other kids for a good while. I love seeing her develop her social skills. She's good with sharing and never takes or pushes other kids. It's nice to see that my lessons of being gentle and sharing are having an impact. I'm thankful for: Talking to my parents today. They're hurting from the family's loss, but hearing my baby over the phone brought them some joy.The tomatoes that are almost ready to eat from my plant. This will be the first time I ever eat my own produce!Finding somebody at work that I can help. That's always been my favorite thing to do at work.

Belated congratulations on passing the 30 day milestone! It's something to be proud of!

Today was a good day considering the sadness in my family at this time. I've been writing journal entries about how my days are going, and they're more or less the same. I want today's entry to be different. My wife has been sensitive to the grieving that's going on in my family. She told me that it's okay for me to grieve, and that she would be there to comfort me. As our time together grows longer, she proves to be a quality wife and human being. I will always aim to be worthy of her kindness. I've been grieving in my own way so far and it hasn't involved any tears just yet. I feel so badly for my uncle's wife, children, and my dad. My dad is losing his best friend and is obviously devastated. When they would hang out, I would see a rare kind of joy in my dad. They understand each other so deeply and have since they grew up together so many years ago. My uncle's kids are wonderful people as well who will dearly miss his deep love and devotion for them. For me, he was a guy who helped me see some great traits in my dad despite our sometimes difficult relationship as I grew up. The insights into my dad that he gave me played a big role in the healing between me and my dad over the years. The world is a better place with my uncle in it, and I'm sad that will be coming to an end. As much as this really sucks, I'm happy that there is no part of me that wants to deal with it by escaping into video games. That doesn't mean that I will become complacent with my progress, but I can celebrate how far I've come. My uncle has told me how proud he is of me, and I'm happy to say that I'm living in a way that justifies that pride. I'll honor him by earning that pride throughout my life. I'm thankful for: Writing down my feelings today. I needed to do that.My cats for being so kind to my baby. She's sometimes not gentle with them, and they have shown patience while she learns.Meeting some really nice people in the neighborhood. It's a great side effect of continuing with the walking habit.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on my journal. I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have! Today was an okay day. I found out that my uncle most likely won't live to see next week. I was able to talk to my aunt, his wife, for a while today. I offered her some kind words, told her how much they mean to me, and listened for a while. They, along with their two kids, are great people. It's just a crappy part of life. I'll always be happy that I knew him. Work was decent. I did my best to be productive all day, but I was having some software problems that rendered the second half of the day pointless. Honestly, I'm not worried about it because I did my best. The company will need to figure out their software issues and processes in order to get more out of me. They may want to do that somewhat quickly because I'm going to school in September and I'm the lead person for my part of the work. I had lots of fun with my baby after work like I usually do. We played "catch" with her ball, read some books, and made a few jokes. We then went on a nice long walk before I put her to bed. I'm going to do some meditation as soon as I wrap this entry up. I'm thankful for: Talking to my aunt. Even though it's just words over the phone, I want her to know that she's in my thoughts.Newman the squirrel for accepting his lot in life and eating from the squirrel feeder.The slight improvement in my sprained neck.

Seven days in is tough, but you're doing it!

You can find dangerous people in every demographic where it is religious, nationality, gender, age, etc. It's almost like those factors have minimal, if any, influence on morality and behavior. You can't just put your trust in a person of authority without observing their words and actions first. Claims of perfection should immediately rule out a person's trustworthiness. I applaud your decision to stick with the science!

I agree, but I don't have more reputations point to give Greetings, Mad Pharmacist My job is pretty good. I get paid well for what I do, but the corporate culture isn't really suited for me. Once I complete my education, I'm going to go for a more advanced position in the company to build my resume for the next chapter in my career. Today was good overall, but I got some bad news. My uncle has been diagnosed with cancer cancer after suffering a significant stroke a few months ago. This is a huge blow to my dad because they are so close. I have many fond memories of my uncle, especially when my dad and him were together. He brings out a youthful side of my dad that was all too rare. I really hate seeing him degrade like he has. He's only about 60 years old too. Ugh. My wife did great today as she just got the promotion that she applied for. She's out to dinner with a friend that she doesn't get to see very often. I've gotten everything around the house taken care of so she can just come home and relax too. I'm happy that she's doing something nice for herself this evening. I had fun playing with my baby this evening. She's getting smarter and smarter which is amazing to watch every day. We read a ton of books, ran around a bit, and talked to my parents on the phone. That's it for me today as I'm emotionally drained from the bad news. I'm thankful for: Having a great uncle.Having quiet time with the cats now that the baby is asleep.Getting another significant task at work. I'm honored that they trust me to do the work even though I'm taking my leave of absence in a month. They won't regret it.

I have that book on my kindle! I read around a third of it before I got distracted by other books. I'm still plugging away on the Slight Edge for now. Today was a really good day. Work was very productive and went by quickly. The work was brainless so I just listened to podcasts all day long as I worked. It was a good way to use my mind. I had my appointment for my back after work. It was great to have some treatment after a pretty painful day. I'm supposed to limit how much I carry my baby though which sucks. Despite the limitation, we still played together and had fun. To cap it off, we all went for a walk when my wife got home from work. I'm thankful for: My wife for making lunch for tomorrow.Resting at the end of the day.Feeling better than I did yesterday.

Today was a good day. I took it much easier than I did last Saturday, and it seems like the whole family was better off for it. I still got things done but didn't push myself to do more than necessary. Knowing when enough is enough is something that I'm working on. My tomato plant is over six feet tall now and has around twenty five tomatoes on it now. I can't wait to eat those things. Newman has been reduced to the level of an ordinary squirrel these days. He's no longer much of a bully and eats from the squirrel feeder like the rest of them. Perhaps he's seen the error of his ways. I'm thankful for: The caprese salad my wife made today. She used tomatoes from our local farm and basil that I grew myself.The 128 GB micro sd card I just put in my phone to replace the 32 GB one. I have weeks of podcasts, all of my music, thousand of pictures, and lots of videos now. There's also plenty of room for more stuff.Being able to bring my baby to a play. She actually enjoyed it.

It may be true that an element of your nervousness to give up your income to go to school full-time comes from the fear that you will not have enough money, or that you are losing money and so forth. This is a scarcity mindset and comes from the belief that money is limited. It's easy to develop this type of thinking when you are in a job that gives you a paycheck every two weeks and you rarely receive a raise, and you really do have to budget and so forth - to be practical. Money is in fact, made up. Money is limitless and it can be created. There is enough money in the world for everyone. So what I mean to suggest is that this is a good opportunity to embrace more of an abundance mindset. One where you are investing in your future and that you can trust that all the money you need will be there, whether that's short-term (now) or long-term (post-school.) There is no reason that you are unable to create all the money you could ever imagine. It's possible. And the first step is believing it to be so. Your actions follow your beliefs so if you believe you are only allowed to have a very limited amount of money, your actions will reflect the actions you need to take to only have a limited amount of money. The opposite is also true. Read The Science of Getting Rich: PDF / AUDIO cc: @kortheo Thanks for the explanation! Yesterday was awesome and I just realized that I didn't have a journal entry. This is the TL;DR of yesterday. Work went well. After work was better. We went to the beach and had a blast with our baby. It was so much fun, and were going to do it again soon.

@Cam Adair, would you mind explaining what you mean by an abundance mindset? I know what the words mean, but I'm not sure what to make of the phrase. Today was another good day. My evening stroller walks with my baby and wife have been really nice. We've made a new friend in the neighborhood. The last two days we've taken the time to stop and talk to a nice lady that lives down the street from us. She's really nice and gets along nicely with our baby. Now we have a couple of friends in the neighborhood. Work went well today too as I continue to make progress on my task. Hopefully I can continue this trend and finish my task before I begin my leave of absence. Newman the squirrel has been adjusting to his new life with a squirrel proof bird feeder. He has refused to eat from the squirrel feeder that I put out there for him and his friends. Sometimes he guards the bird feeder and chases off other animals even though he can't eat from it himself. I've ruled out dropping him off on the other side of the river for now. I just hope he can chill out and accept his new situation. I'm thankful for: My neck improving a little bit.The weather staying dry for our evening walk.My 7 foot tall and growing tomato plant.

Elmo is a popular hand puppet from a long running children's TV program called Sesame Street. You can search on YouTube and see him. A few years ago, there was a stuffed toy of this character that could talk. Everybody was going crazy trying to buy them all up. I'm not really sure why because there's like 10 versions of him for sale at any given time.

Today was a good day. I have been really nervous about giving up my income to go to school full time for a year. This has made me scared to initiate my leave of absence from work, but today I did it! I let my boss know my intentions and will begin the formal process soon. It's so exciting to reach for my dreams. One thing I've been working on is letting my excitement be a bigger focus than fear. I want to be brave and not waste my life doing something I don't care about. Of course, I don't want to be foolhardy either because I have a wonderful family to contribute to. I'm confident that my plan is the right mixture of ambitious and safe. My baby didn't fall asleep until way after her bedtime so I'm going to keep this entry short. I'm thankful for: Taking the next step towards my goals.The improvement in my back. It's still pretty bad, but it's trending in the right direction.Having over 20 tomatoes growing on my plant.

It sounds like you need an activity for your down time in the office. I would try different activities that not only can provide you with entertainment, but also (and more importantly) provide you with happiness. Those are very different things. I have been entertained for 12 to 14 hour gaming binges yet unhappy the entire time. Here are my suggestions: Meditate. I use the headspace app and love it. It has a ten day free trial. It's 10 minutes, once a day, for 10 days. I can go into how I benefited if you want.Draw. I have a book called "Art Before Breakfast" that is all about learning how to sketch in very short intervals. I can tell you that your progress and satisfaction with this will grow with constant practice.Play/learn and instrument. I don't have to be loud. An electric guitar can be used with headphones for example.Go for a walk. I love my lunchtime walks.Ask coworkers how they are doing. Listen to them talk and practice being interested in their lives. Some people may be intolerable to listen to, but it's certainly a minority of them. I practice this myself because it's not natural for me at all.Call your family/sibling/parents. If you feel like you wish you could talk to them more, this is a great opportunity.Catch up on the news. Just be careful about wasting a ton of time online. You can strike up conversations with people about current events too.Journal. Obviously, you're doing a good job with your journal on here, but maybe you want to write down stuff that you don't want online. I do this sporadically.

Thanks! I plan to continue posting on a regular basis. This is a great community to be a part of, and I really believe in this cause. Today was a good day. Work continues to be smooth sailing. I'm determined to get my work done as soon as reasonable to support the other groups. Also, I want to solidify my reputation as a diligent and capable employee before I begin my leave of absence. Today was a great victory on the squirrel front! Newman the Squirrel didn't get anything out of the bird feeder today. I have a dedicated squirrel feeder outside that he sadly ate from. He'll just have to get used to it. My baby had a good day today. We played princesses for a while and ran around the living room. She watched her new movie, Elmo's Potty Time (or whatever it's called), for the first time today. We both enjoyed it. She loves Elmo, and I loved the potty talk, haha. I'm thankful for: My wife making dinner while I kept an icepack on my neck.Having really mindless work today which allowed me to listen to the Tim Ferriss Show while still being productive.All of the comments that people leave for me on my journal.