BRING IT ON!!!

Aaaahhhh … the New Year…

I’ve never really thought of myself as a New Year’s resolution sort of person – more of a live-in-the-moment type of gal.  However, when I reflect on the last 15 years or so, I have to conclude that this fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants notion is full of romance as there is definitely something going on with my perpetual need to organize and plan.  My desire to continually create something better than what I’ve churned out has me gravitating to pen and paper and a calendar… and I’m excited!  I am a planner and I openly admit – here before God and the internet – I am a planner and I love that about myself!

I’ve had a handful of years of “things I want to do” – which end up being fun years and I seem to get all those items “checked” off.  “Go to 3 outdoor concerts.  Go camping 3 times.  Throw 3 parties.  Go somewhere you’ve never been each month...”  Then there have been a few years of intense discipline - the NO CARB & exercise like crazy year I lost 40 pounds, felt smokin’ hot and then the holidays came around again…and I didn’t feel smokin’ hot anymore.   There was the “No alcohol, no caffeine, exercise 2 hours a day, 5 times a weekday, no sugar,  (no fun)...” and well, that was too much to maintain and only lasted until Mid-February. 

One year was my Gratitude Year, thanks to my old friend Jodie and the Simple Abundance book she gave me.  That year was needed and I go back to that book often for a refresher.   I had one year that was especially helpful for growth – my Darcy year.  We met once a month, usually for breakfast (and an irish coffee) and shared our “to-do” lists – the small and big stuff, and re-capped what we were successful with and what we needed to put back on the list.  It was constructive and empowering. 

For this coming year, I’m looking more to capitalize on how I succeed and plug that formula into my list.  The list is long, as it always is, however it’s manageable and ambitious.  Thanks to a great suggestion by my ever-ambitious friend, Pamela, I’m looking into the continual 30-day challenge (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfBXjWm7hc for more on that...)  It offers room to focus on many goals throughout the year, a few at a time.

The list…  My biggest complaint is that I don’t have enough time in my day.  Don’t we all gripe about this?  I remind myself that Einstein, Mother Theresa, Gandhi and  Mozart all had the same 24 hours in a day that I do.  So, I’m going to tackle some do’s and don’t each month with a goal of freeing up more time to focus on things I feel I haven’t had time to do.  I’m going to let the list evolve over the year yet be faithful to the yearly resolution of monthly goal-setting.

For January,  I’m giving up Facebook for 30 days (GASP!) to see if avoiding the 10 times day I check in with my social network will allow me the time I desire to accomplish the other three January goals – read a classic novel, photo journal/blog each day and exercise 30 minutes every day.  I find that each time I read a note from a friend, or post by an organization I like on FB, it leads me traipsing across the internet looking up endless random stuff where I could be more focused.  

The rest of the months are loose in my mind already … no TV for 30 days, take a walk with my family every day, yoga & meditation every day, live by my food ethics, re-do my garden plan, volunteer work daily, to sleep by 11pm, no food after 8pm, handwrite a letter to someone I love each day, call someone different each day on the phone, keep Ghandi's top 10 list in mind...

I love the true fact that every moment is a chance for renewing.   I’m going to offer myself that freedom in 2012 - that I am able to re-create any reality I want and choose to.  I look forward to connecting  to people, places and ideals in my life in a more meaningful way.  Happy and blessed New Year to all of you!  I invite you to share your goals and successes here on my page throughout the year as a journal of inspiration to others!