It's that time...New Year's resolutions time!
I love making goals! Whenever I get stuck in a rut in my life, I've made goals and it makes me feel so much better. The future is bright and exciting, I suddenly believe in myself more. It's a good feeling.
That's also why I feel a little annoyed and sad when people boast about how "I ain't gonna bother making goals...we all know it's not going to work!" or something similar.
For one, God put us on this earth to improve and progress. You might not believe that like I do, but don't we all have an innate desire to learn and increase or even to have better and improved circumstances/relationships/things? I sure hope so.
For two, if your goals don't work out, then they weren't good goals...either way too drastic a change, too far out of reach, or not specific enough. You can't just say, 'I'd like to read more' or 'I will run a 5k', especially when you've never done it in your life. You have to say when, where, how many times a week, how many minutes a day, how many pages/steps/calories/etc. You have to reward yourself for steps along the way. If you want to lose weight, give yourself a cookie every couple pounds you lose. Something!
Have a little faith in yourself people!
Well anyways, whatever you choose to do, I made a bunch of goals for the new year, and I thought I would share a few of them and report on how it goes.
Over the past year and a half, I've been thinking a lot about my talents. Every time I think about it, I come up with the conclusion that most of the talents I can list off the top of my head I've either dumped and put in my past, use them very rarely, or use and don't let it benefit anyone but myself. This has really been bothering me. So this year my main goal that sums up most of my goals is to develop and practice my talents for my own personal growth, to help discover untapped potential, and most importantly for the betterment of other people's lives.
1.) Read, listen to, or study the Spanish language for at least 10-15 minutes a day.
Somewhere deep in my brain, I know a decent amount of Spanish. But it's worthless because it's not enough, and not fresh enough, for me to ever use it. I have a few books in Spanish and can watch Spanish news and things online, which is what I plan to use. I have a friend from college who, before ever studying abroad, seemed already fluent to me and he claimed it was from listening to Shakira day in and day out hahaha! Since I don't see myself having an 'immersion into Spanish language/culture' experience anytime soon, this is the best I can do and I think with enough drive it'll do for now. Some day I know I will travel though. =)
2.) Join a community symphony orchestra or band.
My flute needs to come back into my life, I know that for sure! It's been really apparent to me as of late that it's something I need (and want) to do. I've already researched and found a few different groups, and been in contact with some of them. Only a matter of time! I can't wait to find all my music from back in the day and start practicing.
3.) Sing with church choirs as often as I can.
Even if that means once or twice a year in the stake choir, so be it. I plan on contacting someone about it soon. I love to sing sooo much, and singing in a choir is the greatest feeling. But since I've already decided to focus on my flute this year and I don't want to overload my life with too many hobbies, this one has moved to the backburner. That being said, if I sing one time with a choir, it will be more than I did all last year, and that's an improvement. I can also only handle so much of soprano attitudes, and since I am a soprano, running into it is inevitable. ;)
(Ask Chase, I rant about it some times...my ideal choir consists of sopranos singing very softly so that someone, ANYONE else can be heard. But since that is impossible because they always insist on blasting over top of one another, my other option is a choir with only 4-5 of them, and at least 20 of everyone else. Especially tenors. You can never have too many of those.)
4.) Lose 10-15 pounds by June.
Now bear with me. You're right, I'm not fat. And I don't need to lose weight. But I want to. I have not been eating very healthy (more that I tend to over-eat) or running at all, and I want that to change. This time last year, I was about 5 pounds above my goal weight, and I decided to lose it by June for the wedding. Through watching how much I ate and being too freakin busy, by May I succeeded. I had found and bought my dress before we were even officially engaged haha and it was a tad big on me. Due to the design of the bodice, I couldn't really get it taken in much. I liked how I looked in it and so from then on didn't worry about my weight. In the 5-6 months during wedding week and after, there was much reason to celebrate. And I like to eat when I celebrate, so I've gained 10+ pounds. So I would like to lose it and get back to the goal weight. By June because that's when we go to the beach. =) But mainly, I would like to not stuff my face until I can barely breathe because my heart is trying so hard to help digest it all (this seriously happens and I feel like a fat lard), and I would like to start running again. Which leads to...
5.) Create a running schedule, and run a 5k.
I'll be honest, this probably will not happen until the weather starts warming up. Because right now, all the energy I can muster goes to putting on 10 layers of clothes, curling up under 1,000 blankets, stealing body heat from my husband, and basically...just trying to stay warm! And while on the few occasions that I have gone to work out at the gym I feel toasty warm and wonderful afterward, I just can never do it on a regular basis. And I like to run outside, anyway. I'm thinking I might stick with the couch to 5k program, or make my own. We have 2 parks with a nice trail right by our house, so no excuses.
6.) Set aside about $40 every paycheck.
This will go into an emergency fund. Emergency may every once in a while be defined as "we're broke, bored and/or grumpy and REALLY just want to go see a movie tonite". If that amount ever becomes too much, that's ok. As long as I put something in, even $5, it's more than I would have if I wasn't saving.
7.) Write to my friend Ellen at least every other month.
Ellen is really cool. Her heroes are Kim Possible and the Wild Thornberrys, and she lives her life accordingly. In college when I met her, she had this loser boyfriend (she would never say this, but I have no problem doing so haha) who insisted that she was needy and dependent, didn't have friends to talk to or confide in (umm, hello? what am I, chopped liver?), and basically wasn't living life like he thought she should. He was wrong. So she spent a year in Chile, had a million cool experiences, spent like another year in Mexico studying bird migrations, and she's currently in Uganda with the Peace Corp. She's been there for a little over a year and has 2 more to go. With the busy year I've had, I was a terrible friend and wrote her/sent a care package ONE TIME. This is unacceptable. I once wrote a missionary 2-4 times a month no prob. Granted I wasn't working full time, going to grad school, planning a wedding and honeymoon and trying to find a place to live at the same time, but STILL. I need to write to my friend. She's been wonderful and supportive and I truly am interested to hear about all the things she's doing in Uganda and the people she's met.
8.) Start writing a book and blog more.
People say I'm a good writer. And I have so many stories I would love to tell, but I never have because storytelling by way of speaking is not a strength of mine. Sometimes I try to tell them and it never comes out right or people lose interest. But when I write? I can better express how I feel and make sure it sounds just how I want it to. So I thought I would start writing them. Right now I'm thinking the stories will probably be my future children as the audience, and I'll tell stories about dating and growing up in the church on the east coast. We'll see what happens. And as I write stories, I might share bits and pieces on here. I would also like to blog more just about every day things, but I need to find a happy medium. I recently heard a wise man suggest that people spend more time seeing each other in person, and less time blogging. He also cautioned people to take care of what you say when you blog, because it's easier to say hurtful things and end up offending someone, and you never know who is reading and the damage you could be causing. I thought that was really good advice.
9.) Cook something new at least once a month.
Out there on the world wide web and the world in general, there are a million delicious-looking recipes. I have a crockpot that I have yet to use and things I would love to taste and try. So I'm going to pick a bunch out and make it happen. If it turns out well, I may share those experiences on here. Btw, this is Chase's favorite of my goals. =)
So there you have it! Well, a few of them anyway...I have 16 total, phew!
Chase made some good goals too, including growing a mullet and mastering kung fu (HA!). Ok, so he made some real ones and then tacked those onto the end. Life is never boring when you have a Chase around.
Happy New Year everyone! May you grow and get better and receive all the good things you deserve this year, even if you don't want to. ;)
