Modus Operandi

Sitting in my first-hour class this morning, I had the thought

This year, I'm gonna BE BOLD.

I want to do everything I didn't last year. I'm gonna show who I am, let fly the funny comments I normally keep to myself, dare to ask the questions I might be afraid to. 

This time, I will reach out more to others. That cute guy in my seminary class? I'm gonna say hey to him tomorrow. The girl sitting alone at the lunch table? My friends and I will invite her to sit at ours. Those kids in the class I'm a TA for? They will see just how cool I can be. 

There will be no regrets this year. No reservations. Everything I do, I will do with a purpose, even if that purpose happens to be silly.

I will try all sorts of new things. How does that adage go? Don't knock it 'til you try it? Well that is precisely what I plan on doing.

For too long, I have held life at arm's length, never really immersing myself. As my family well knows, my usual approach is to focus on the future and dwell a bit on the past. What kind of life is that? If one never speaks up, one is never going to be heard. Bravery--boldness--is the key. A friend of mine asserted this in a piece of her writing, and it has stuck with me ever since.

Thus, my modus operandi, my mode of operation, is: