September is here! In my typical grind-girl fashion, I’ve been revisiting my goals for the month, setting my schedule according to my strategic plan, and forecasting for the next 30 days.

Now you may be wondering, what in the world is a grind-girl? A grind-girl is a woman who’s focused, committed to her vision, and who’s not afraid to dig in despite discomfort and inconvenience. She is willing to go the extra mile because she knows that her sacrifice on this end will yield a harvest on the other end. She is diligent and willing to get her hands dirty for the sake of living her dreams. She is headed somewhere and nothing and no one can stand in her way. In the world of a grind-girl, the drive never stops. Each milestone is a step toward the next milestone. A grind-girl is always reaching.

One night, a pretty lively conversation erupted during a single’s ministry meeting about the importance of shared values and common goals in future relationships. All of the women agreed that we wanted partners who were striving towards something. Then, one of the only men in the group asked, “Does this mean that you will never be satisfied? What if we get to a point in our lives where we are content? Can you rest in that or will you create another goal to chase?” The brother was asking, does the grind ever stop?

Well, this post is in honor of that brother. In answer to his question, “My grind NEVER stops! I’m a grind-girl.” However, my grind can periodically be placed on pause. So today, as I welcome September, I’m giving the grind a time-out while I properly thank August for the joys and successes she so graciously delivered.

At the end of the standing series in Bikram Yoga, all yogis are told to face the mirror and acknowledge ourselves, to bow in recognition of the effort we put into our practice and into being present in the moment. So, this is my bow to August.

1. In August, the scale started to move again. I lost 7 pounds! (There’s nothing more motivating that being told that your A1C is creeping up again. So, I dusted off my gym membership and camped out!)
2. I spent quality time with family- from traveling to New Jersey to catch the tail end of my family reunion to breakfast on the weekends with the niece-cousins and nephew-cousin.
3. I finished my second French class…and I think it’s starting to make sense. Je comprende un peu de Francais et J’espere parler en Francais avec mes amis de Give1Project. Je vais essayer de lire le livre de Thione Niang en Francais.
4. I had three-count them- one, two, three date nights in August. That’s a record for two busy people!
5. I received notification that I will be presenting a paper at the Ways of Knowing Conference at Harvard Divinity School next month!
6. I was privileged to deliver a eulogy for family friends as they laid their loved one to rest.
7. I got new running shoes and reacquainted myself with the treadmill.
8. I finally got that monstrous tree cut down that was in my backyard. Hopefully now, my garden will grow. There are signs of life already.
9. I ended the month at Diner en Blanc. It was a white hot evening! I’ll tell you more about it in a future post.

So, that’s it! August was good to me and I’m ready to see what September has in store.

Back to the grind!