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In-between solving a convoluted case in the last episode of NCIS: New Orleans, “Radio Silence” (Season 2, Episode 17), Dwayne Pride has to deal with his daughter’s angst at the pressure she feels he’s put on her to explore her musical talents. In the final scene they reach a resolution of sorts agreeing to finish the semester before revisiting her decision to drop out of music school, and then play out to “Under Pressure”. I hope I can be there for my (future) daughter in the same way, being able to relate and resolve any issues she has… ...

What has quickly become apparent – as this year of living earnestly evolves - is that far from being the wild, giddy, excited life I half expected when my thoughts began to initially crystallise, it is one that is lived in increments; steady habits being the under-girding behaviours which hold everything together. That sense – of slow, steady if ponderous, progress – is one that has been consistently underlined and reinforced all year; by the book I am currently reading (Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), the ongoing series at Passion City on Habits and various conversations, the last of which occurred over the weekend with the older guy friend/ mentor O. The general gist of the book and the series is that change is only possible if there is an overarching vision of the future that frames the daily actions that we take, providing an incentive that keeps us plugging away at them. ...

#Sleepless

Spent the bulk of the weekend re-watching Season 9 of How I Met Your Mother, complete with its unsatisfactory ending in which Ted shoots off to Robin’s after all she put him through. Tsk!!! Tsk!!! Before that though, Ted’s summation of his 9 year journey to finding Tracy did resonate with my inner suppressed romantic: It was at times a long, difficult road. But I’m glad it was long and difficult, because if I hadn’t gone through hell to get there, the lesson might not have been as clear. You see, kids, right from the moment I met your mom, I knew… I have to love this woman as much as I can for as long as I can, and I can never stop loving her, not even for a second. I carried that lesson with me through every stupid fight we ever had, every 5:00 a.m. Christmas morning, every sleepy Sunday afternoon, through every speed bump. Every pang of jealousy or boredom or uncertainty that came our way, I carried that lesson with me. And I carried it with me when she got sick. Even then, in what can only be called the worst of times, all I could do was look at her and thank God, thank every god there is, or ever was, or will be, and the whole universe, and anyone else I can possibly thank that I saw that beautiful girl on that train platform, and that I had the guts to stand up, walk over to her, tap her on the shoulder, open my mouth, and speak. ...

The Big Rocks Grow in Grace and Godliness; as evidenced by beating a number of bad habits, and living a life of contemplative prayer and worship. Find, woo and marry the woman of my dreams; Deliver at work in quantity and quality; confirmation and a promotion to Senior Engineer Shed the flab, get back down to <80kg 2016 Objectives Develop a steady practice of (contemplative) prayer and bible study(Target >75% of days) Reduce year ending spending versus 2015 (Target 15% reduction) Write more (Target average 1 post a week, write for >30 consecutive days) Migrate diet over to an LCHF/ Whole30 model (30 consecutive days) Journal more (Target three times a week) Read for 2 hours every day (Target – 13 books for FY2016) Fast once a week till 4pm (Target 40 completions) Start the day with a litre of water (Target >75% of days) Reduce social media usage (Target complete >30 consecutive days) Check in with someone in my life for 30 days Write a thankful post for 30 days More here

Finding myself listening to a lot of songs which are tied to a certain time/ phase in my life… Worn from that darned winter of 2012.. Sigh.. --- Let me see redemption win Let me know the struggle ends That you can mend a heart That’s frail and torn I wanna know a song can rise From the ashes of a broken life And all that’s dead inside can be reborn Cause I’m worn

– I can’t stop the rain, but I will hold you ’til it goes away.. #Comforting

Blue vans mean business, apparently…

#Hope

We meet up - at the third time of trying - at the only place there is of note, Union Square. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, we settle for TGIF, the steak, rib and shrimp meal the perfect counterpoint to the 46 days of minimal feeding we have gotten through. There is a lot to catch up on - work, women and all the other things single, semi-bored Aberdonian chaps whine about. When we agree to head our separate ways at 9.30pm, it is having been fully sated, all caught up on nine month worth of life, and with an agreement in principle to make this a monthly affair.. ...