Reviewing my goals
Around the end of July every year, I make a yearly goal/bucket list thing of what I want to do that year. It's time I review where I'm at with that and see how things are going.
This is a lighter-than-usual year for my normal goal list because I knew I'd be emigrating to a new country.
My relationship: I still saw myself being with the same partner and possibly married if we managed to emigrate. We did emigrate and, by my new country's laws, we are considered common-law married. So, I can consider this one done.
Go on a meditation retreat: I try to get to one yearly, but with said emigration and all of its costs, it hasn't seemed likely. Certainly, the jhana retreat I wanted to go on isn't going to be possible for me now. However, I have found new opportunities for retreats where I am. If I can replenish my finances after all the costs of moving and there's a retreat with enough days, I can still do this.
Progressing in career and financial health: More of an ongoing goal, but I haven't been fired, and I've been keeping up with my general financial goal of having six months of savings in reserve.
Decide about continuing my SCA participation: By SCA, I mean Society for Creative Anachronism. I went to one event in my new country and a few meet-up things, but I don't have the fire for that sort of activity anymore. However, I'll need to attend a few more things locally before I make a final decision.
See my late wife's probate closed: I'm way down on the totem pole for my lawyer. It was a boondoggle to begin with. She had some foreign equity in a company that we worked for and I opened the probate to try to claim it and got nothing for my trouble but legal bills. Frankly, until my lawyer pipes up, I'm going to ignore this.
Finish my woodworking bench and build a personal bookcase: This may be possible, but it will depend on my partner bringing the rest of my gear and the partially made bench over so I can finish it. The bookcase won't take nearly as long, but I need my bench to do it.
Maintain or improve my health: Again, one of those ongoing goals. My weight has stayed largely the same and I've been working on my flexibility. My sleep is much better now as well. I could be doing much more work and get further, but I'm not becoming decrepit.
Get established in my new country: Practically done, so far as I can take it. My application for permanent residency has been sent. There is something I need to renew at the end of May, and I need an acknowledgement of my application, before I'll mark this off.
Finish Pāli level 3: Now that things are relatively calm, I have been doing a lesson every now and again. Should be plenty doable by the time all is done.
Going regularly to a local Buddhist monastery or temple: I was going to a Thai temple in my former country for a bit, but now that I am here I am sitting with an experienced lay group that has connections with monasteries here. I'm not quite going as regularly as I would like, but the hard part is finding one. I think this goal is done.
Finish reading the Anguttara Nikaya: Done. I also have "possibly finishing all of the Samyutta Nikaya", but that is a much denser work. I'm finding myself going down rabbit holes of research with each one. The Nikayas are the main collections of Pāli scriptures in Theravada Buddhism.
Being more mindful of daily activities and watching for what disrupts samadhi/samatha cultivation: A little bit every day, but I think the outer disruptions are calm enough now that I need to turn toward the cultivation more. Again, an ongoing goal.
Not part of this list is working on some private therapy goals after I made some discoveries about myself and psychology. I don't want to get into those.
Still, overall, not bad progress.