First steps

Today I made progress.

That is what I want to be able to say every day for the rest of this summer (at least!). Yesterday I set goals for part of the summer, and today I took action on a task that has been sitting in my "procrastinate" box for at least a month. It feels so good to have it started. I just need to remember this feeling and keep doing things that get me here. And then I can ride the wave all the way in, right?

As I told Advisor yesterday, I'm making a deliberate attempt to be an optimist. Don't crush me! My normal cynicism aside, I'm typically pretty happy. But For the next month, I am going to be perpetually happy and looking for a silver lining. Like, when my labmate whines or insults me or goes googly eyed over some olympian that she doesn't have a chance with, I can go out for a walk with a friend and get a snack. Or when it freezes tonight - it's nice to have my plants inside to decorate my apartment. :)

So. Tomorrow, I will finish the task I started today, and cross at least two other things off my mini-goals list. (I have four major goals for each of May and June -- they're in baby steps, so I feel like I have a chance at getting them done, but still adequate to get me where I need to be at the end of the summer. The mini-goals list is lined out by specific tasks I have to do each week, and gets progressively more general out to about 1 year from now.)

Also - the fieldwork that got canceled last fall? On again for this year. YES. (Daily optimism: it will happen, and I will learn things that will benefit my career, if not my thesis. And it will be fun!)