Should You Persevere Through Obstacles Or Intentionally Change Your Goals To Fit Your Current Self?

Sunny Side Updates with TBIN || Week 47

I’ve been mulling over the concept of giving up vs. hustling through to achieve a goal lately. Sometimes, we set out on a journey in a specific context and obstacles come up, and what we need to do is power through these obstacles to achieve what we most wanted to.

More recently, I’m learning a new narrative: sometimes, who you set out to be years ago has changed given the experiences you’ve gone through and you might not even want the same goal.

The challenge is to find out exactly whether you’re deciding to let go out of avoidance of something, or to genuinely work towards something new. It can be so hard to tell at the moment, from within the experience.

Sometimes, you can’t tell until you’re outside of the situation, which is what Diana C.helped me realize with her reflection prompt back in January: Write about a time you reluctantly had to give up something but in hindsight, it was the right thing to give up. This is the poem/ story I wrote about:

Inspired and empowered by this prompt that helped me reflect on the past, I wanted to think about and get ideas about how to channel these ideas forward. While Diana’s prompt focuses on thinking about a past event, I’m curious about rules, ideas, stories that others have on making this decision easier.

This brings me to this week’s Shortform Prompt:

What rules, experiences, ideas, stories do you have surrounding making the difficult decision of whether to persevere through the obstacles to achieve a goal, or to intentionally abandon a goal as it no longer fits you? How do you determine whether your current experience is one or the other?

Until next week,

Lucy 🍳 EIC of The Brain is a Noodle* Podcast || Twitter || Instagram || Redbubble || Newsletter *This is factually incorrect. Please absolutely do not go out and eat brains.

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This week’s shortform prompt
What rules, experiences, ideas, stories do you have surrounding making the difficult decision of whether to persevere through the obstacles to achieve a goal, or to intentionally abandon a goal as it no longer fits you? How do you determine whether your current experience is one or the other?

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🍜 Piping Hot New(dle) Pieces of the Week

Challenge: *highlight* the ones you bookmarked/ read and make sure everyone gets highlighted at least once! ❤

🧠🍜 [1] Things I Miss by Dr. Jackie Greenwood ‘I’ve been wandering for a time lonely, but not alone and tonight, I can’t sleep’

🧠🍜 [2] Celebrate Life and Love in Each Moment Even if It Seems Trivial by Ruchi Thalwal ‘The zig-zag curvy road in the dense fog Blinding the eye with no sense of direction No path to see no direction to lead’

🧠🍜 [3] My Favourite Place to Write by Jessie Waddell ‘In a tidy little nook, With a comfy place to sit, A coffee that’s steaming, And a window for quiet contemplation.’

🧠🍜 [4] My 4 Year Old Drives Better than You by Lisa Gerard Braun ‘I’ve curbed my once foul-mouthed rants to the idiots who make a right turn from the far left lane. Those who don’t use a turn signal get an earful through my protective soundproof shell. Only morons come to a complete stop before turning right to exit a 3 lane, 55 miles an hour roadway.’

🧠🍜 [5] Happy New Year, Swedish Buns by Will Hull ‘Here in Australia, donuts (doughnuts, dognuts, KK’s) are a dessert. More an arvo or evening thing, though, thanks to Krispy Kreme and coffee bars adding them to the menu, they’ve become more of an anytime snack.’

🧠🍜 [6] I Earned $0.30 On Medium by K S Fielding ‘Like many others, I believe I have something to contribute. Whether it’s fiction, infosec write-ups, philosophy reflections, there are things I can write about.’

🧠🍜 [7] Chili Season by Cameron Sidhe ‘Every pepper has its place a single note in symphonic stew’

🧠🍜 [8] Favorite Place For Writing by Thalia Dunn ‘I try to write wherever and whenever, I really do, but my body craves routine’

🧠🍜 [9] I wrote a poem in a garden… by Adam Deitsch ‘I wrote a poem in a garden bathed in diffuse light. The buzzing and clicking of the insects filled the air as birds chimed in with their occasional chirps.’

🧠🍜 [10] I Couldn’t Get Through Menstrual Hell Without Canada Dry by Ajah Hales ‘Tanka is a form of Japanese poetry where 31 syllables are arranged into a 5/7/5/7/7 grouping. I like to challenge myself with Japanese poetry because short-form is far outside my comfort zone, and discomfort is vital for growth.’

🧠🍜 [11] There is such a place as fairyland by Diana Dee ‘Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals.’

🧠🍜 [12] What’s Something That Bothers You? by Punch Drunk Cola ‘What is something that bothers me? Asked by Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Something that tugs your heart Or that keeps you up at night.’

🧠🍜 [13] My Dieting Journey Involves Cookies by Lisa Gerard Braun ‘My history with weight loss, and gain too, of course, has been a rollercoaster ride for years. In my mind, I am the Queen of Yoyo Scale Gymnastics.’

🧠🍜 [14] Chiles en Nogada — Mexican’s National Dish by Sharing Randomly ‘It’s almost Independence Day here in Mexico and I can’t wait to try “Chiles en Nogada”.’

🧠🍜 [15] What Do We See With Our Mind’s Eye — Is It True or a Lie by Caroline de Braganza ‘Sensory input The only port of entry For memories to form Filtered by a lifetime of events And experiences’

🧠🍜 [16] Can I find a neighbor in the path next door? by Las siete y más ‘They said everybody has their own time and path that I better concentrate on the personal test. They said comparison is the thief of joy, but they didn’t talk about the loneliness of the soul.’

🧠🍜 [17] Reflections, Favorite Things, and Some Trumpet-Blowing by Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ‘I had no idea this was a monthly thing! When I saw the word interview, I simply assumed it was an…interview! And then, I read Yan Huang ’s post How Grey’s Anatomy Has Reminded Me About Breaking Ice And Mental Health and realized — hey, I could do this too! What fun!’

🧠🍜 [18] Apartment #8 by Rachella Angel Page ‘I close your door for the final time. sit outside on the porch for my last 20-minute thinking session, misty-eyed. I didn’t think that I’d miss your four walls.’

🧠🍜 [19] Dear Sasha by KSHernandez ‘It’s been a year, since you’ve been gone. How are you? Did you find a family that loves introverted kitty cats as much as I do, or did they find you? That was my prayer, after you were so heartlessly discarded by our brother.’

🧠🍜 [20] Help Yourself to These Mental Health Insights and Tips by Lisa Gerard Braun ‘What I do know, with 100% accuracy, is that everyone in the world knows at least one thing I have not learned yet.’

🧠🍜 [21] The Technologically Challenged Girl’s Guide to Converting Your Stories into Audio Files by Lori Lamothe ‘Full disclosure #1: I’ve always wanted to be Lisbeth Salander.’

🧠🍜 [22] Season of Change by Winston ‘The sun, the sky and the moving cloud. A familiar sight, a familiar sense. It’s time for the rhythm of the northerly wind.’

🧠🍜 [23] My Low-Tech Way to Keep Track of the Medium Publications I Write for — Part Two by CARMEN F MICSA ‘Just a week ago, I wrote part one of this article about my old-fashioned way of keeping track of all my Medium publications. I even inspired some of you to create your list.’

🧠🍜 [24] The Day I Marie Kondo My Drawers by CARMEN F MICSA ‘Cleaning, organizing, and decluttering brings an inexplicable calm to my being. It’s almost a transcendental experience that soothes and silences my soul.’

🧠🍜 [25] Ode to 🍷 by Cori Holmes ‘🍇s are basic. Aisles of choices, I 🤤 and then regret. The following day I lay 🤮 . Taste buds need to recalibrate…’

🧠🍜 [26] Last of the Summertime Grilling by Thalia Dunn tantalizing smells from the backyard grill invigorate my nerves’

🔊 Voices to Amplify

We don’t have to leave it to the algorithm to suggest our favourite pieces! Here are some of my archived faves!

Thank you to Rambling Rose, Michelle Kim, Dr. Fatima Imam, Ruchi Thalwal, Johnny Silvercloud and Ana Maria Radulescu for writing these pieces! ❤

🧠🍜 Thank you to the Noodle Team!

challenge: pick 3 writers you haven’t met yet and get acquainted with their pieces!

New writers: Jeanne-Erin | Troy B. Jordan | Zsófia Sáfár | Hal H. Harris

Greg Proffit | Rebecca Herz | Winston | Natasha Kurien | K S Fielding | Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles | Cori Holmes | Jee Young Park | Caroline de Braganza | Kate Lynch | Assumpta Nalubowa | Lisa Gerard Braun | Nes Laidler | Reanna Szeszol | The Positive Journal | Medomfo Owusu | Sh*t Happens — Lost Girl Travel | Obinna Uruakpa | Sean Peck | Susan Alison | Kevin Alexander | Sharing Randomly | Brenda Covarrubias | Jimmy Misner Jr. | Stevie Wright | Disha Choksi | Roselyn Violet | Dazzling Shene | Jennifer Leth | John Gobins | Karen Falcon | America Zed | CARMEN F MICSA | Karen Schwartz | MIGHTY MISCELLANY | Ajah Hales | Gisel La Fleur | Roselyn Violet | Marcus Chan | Jennifer Dunne | Cameron Sidhe | Earl Grey Sea | Rakshita Upadhyay | O.M. Fernandes | Beth Nintzel | Barbara Dalton | George Cloake | Nhi Diep | Tarun Gupta | HerPrivateLife | Sohrab Khandelwal | Nerissa Talique | Gracia Kleijnen | Betsy Denson | KSHernandez | Luke DeLalio | Rachella Angel Page | Teressa P. | VV Valentine | Bhavya Mehta | Suntonu Bhadra | Noah Levy | Suzy Hazelwood | Ashlea Morgan | LS | Jessie Waddell | Dave Logan | Candy Marie | Himanshi B | Zihan | Elle How | K.S. | Sherry McGuinn | Diana Dee | Rambling Rose | Doran Lamb | Avi Kotzer | A.M. Radulescu | Laurie Perez | Paul Mansfield | B.R. Shenoy | Nada Chehade| Coco Joan | Bingz Huang | Shreya Badonia | Kimberly Carter | Las siete y más | Warren Brown | Trista Signe Ainswort | Kyomi O’Connor | Kay Bee | MaggieLaFae | Alex Godley | Haider Jamal | Josie Elbiry | Anthony Jackson | Hannah M. Moore | Michael Hollifield | Yana Bostongirl | TC Hails | Orla Kenny | Samedra Carter | Tatum Hamernik | Thalia Dunn | Nia Simone McLeod | Josie Elbiry | Keegan Roembke | Noorain Hassan, BMS | Humaira Iqbal | Zachary Burg | Bob Pepe | Will Hull | Jason | Courtenay S. Gray | Sahil Patel | Meenal Gupta | Amy Lee Kite | Evan Wildstein | Hilda Carroll | Chloe Hill | Paola Perez | Matt Ray | Wolfie Bain | Dena Ogden | Tasneem Kagalwalla | Yan Huang | Tree Langdon | Stuart Englander | Jennifer McDougall | Aaron Kemp | Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) | LS | Lori Welch Brown | Nicole Jiang | Crystalclearcandace | Em Unravelling | Jupiter Grant | Elle Beau ❇︎ | Suman Sandhu | Adam Deitsch | Mia Z. Edwards | David Majister | JF | Zach Neuman | Chris Mooney-Singh | Toya Qualls-Barnette | Karen Lappa Haas | Alan Henley | Michelle Bonfils | Zach Klebaner | Anna | Deepshikha Bhagat | Carlos Garbiras | Katrina Bos | Lisa Bolin | Sohaib Roomi | The Dozen | Malik Bellamy | Olivia Th | Shaista Malik | Emily Wilcox | Brajendra | Eva Rotolo | Bhavna Narula | Shannon Hugman | Ryan DeJonghe | Ryan DeJonghe | Dennett | Swagat Choudhury | Vivian | Mark Tulin | Arslan Mirza | Amber Carlson | Urfa | Whatsinanaim | Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. | Carolyn Riker | Tally | Shivangi Patel | Giulia | ScienceDuuude | Rachael Ann Sand | Divina Grey | Sarah Paris | DISHA GARG | Jen Kleinknecht | janny’s heart | Penofgold | Blank Voice | Kele Mogotsi | Jessie London | Indubala Kachhawa | Radhika Ghose | Mil H. | Zeno Faber | Maziar Ghaderi | Julia Appa | Campbell Christensen | Allison Gaines | Lori Lamothe | Tima Loku | Kim McKinney | Baye Amina | Tom Fenske | Johannes Mudi | Kasun Ranasinghe | Just a Slytherin hissing | Dr. Fatima Imam | Ntathu Allen | Somsubhra Banerjee | Veronica Georgieva | Life is Amazing with Books and Writers | Dandy Lioness 🌻 | Mindsmatter | Michael Ranjitsingh | Anjali Samaraweera | Krupesh Raikar | Rusty Alderson | Dr. Preeti Singh | Punch Drunk Cola | Melissa Speed | Ntathu Allen | Denise G | Carolyn Hastings | Tej | Vijini Mallawaarachchi | Amy Marley | Jac Gautreau | Erivaldo Ricardo | Roz Warren | Melissa Bee | Pretheesh Presannan | Daniel A. Teo | Anuradha Wickramarachchi | Niru | Priyanka Mane | Em Hoccane | Synthia S. | Alexandra Forsyth | R. Rangan PhD | Jacobo the First | Connie Song | Fathiyah Zb | Not quite Steve Fisher | Amna Asif | Aimée Gramblin | A Fresh Pot of Coffee | Rebecca Stevens A. | Imad | James G Brennan | Mary Keating | Jay Avery | h.a wadi | Pablo Pereyra | Isaac | jenine bsharah baines | Rochelle Silva | Jade-Ceres Violet D. Munoz | Ruchi Thalwal | Clare Almand | Dana Sanford | Naomi Leilani Acosta | Dr. Jackie Greenwood | Fathiyah Zb |

Ps, if any of these links are outdated, please leave a note to let me know!