It's a new year and the time I always focus on "improving" myself my setting ridiculous (unrealistically unattainable) New Year's resolutions. While on one hand, I appreciate the opportunity and freshness that comes with the start of a new year and would certainly like to improve myself in lots of ways. BUt, on the other hand, I don't really care for New Year's resolutions much. I've found they often lead to feelings of failure, unhappiness, and self-loathing; not really they way I want to feel anytime, but especially not at the start of a brand new year filled with so much promise.
I've tried other ideas to accomplish goals I have had or do have, but again I made them so big and so unrealistic that I failed, and then felt disappointed and angry with myself for failing. I know many don't need to self-impose reasons to feel inadequate and that often we are our very own worst critics. Sadly and ashamedly, I am one of those who tends to focus more on my short-comings than on the things I do well. I judge myself more harshly than I would ever judge another mom or teacher or wife or friend or fill in the blank title or role.
All this brings me to my simpler (I hope) plan for 2011. I want to have goals. I want accomplish things. I want to be successful (in the ways I choose to define it, rather than by material trappings or others' definitions). I also know I need accountability to make the goals I have a reality in the coming year.
Thus, 12 for 12 in 2011. Twelve things I want to focus on for the twelve months of 2011.
1. Read through the Bible completely. Thanks to Kendall's blog about it, I'm also using this site as a guide.
2. Pray God's Word: One Week at a Time. Thanks to Brittney from the Poe Fam blog, I am joining in
Praying God's Word: One Week at a Time. I will continue to pray daily for the spontaneous things, but I
want to spend time intentionally praying scripture.
3. Keep our blog current. No 8 month hiatuses.
4. Exercise. I am aiming for a minimum of 4 x 45 minutes each week.
5. Read. minimum 2 books per month. I welcome suggestions!!
6. Try 2 recipes per month. Again, bring on your suggestions!
7. Keep house clean. Doug and I have created a daily/weekly chore chart for ourselves. We are challenging
ourselves to maintain this so we don't ahve to have marathon cleaning sessions on the weekends when
we'd rather be doing other things on our days off.
8. Work on organizing Doug's baseball cards. He has well over 10,000 and I'm working to get them all
sorted by first letter of player's last name and then alphabetizing them by player's last. This in an enormous
project and my goal for this year is to at least get them all sorted and into the appropriately labeled
ziploc baggie. I'll be working on this project for a few years, but I did begin last summer, so I have a start
already.
9. Take more photos. Not jsut of the big events; I usually get those, but also of the little, ordinary, daily
things of life. I'm also aiming to take a posed picture of Caden each month to track his growth and change
over the course of the year.
10. Attempt one adult craft each month. This could be interesting as I don't really see myself as crafty at all.
All you crafty types, please give me ideas!
11. Do a random act of kindness each month. Watch out this could be you.
12. Participate in at least one race. Right now, I'm planning for the Emma Creek Classic at the end of April.
Because of the need for accountability, I plan to also post updates of how it's going each week. Based on the way our household runs, I count weeks from Sunday to Saturday, so I will likely post about the week on Saturday evenings or sometime on Sunday.
I'm eager to see where 2011 takes me and my family. I'm hoping having a simpler, written plan, helps me stick to it to see my goals realized come December 31, 2011.
Happy 2011! May your 2011 year be filled with challenges that make you stronger and wiser; laughter that makes you more light-hearted; love that makes you more complete; and joy that makes you more fulfilled.
