2015

I think it’s always a good idea to reflect on the year that’s passed and make plans for the new year. It gets a bad rap, but I think without this conscious pause to reflect and plan, the passage of time loses its gravitas.

2014 was an interesting year for me. There was truly much good in it – wonderful times with family and friends, success and happiness, a  new home – and yet there was much that was difficult as well. I was sick a lot. I felt overwhelmed and over burdened frequently. I gained weight. I didn’t feel in control.

There were, I know, many things that contributed to this state of affairs. The decision to move so soon after Mom’s passing was possibly ill-advised. I was still in a grief-stupor when we made that decision and though I still think it’s a good one and love our new house, it was a hard time to do it. I also didn’t say “no” as much as I should have. And this led to much of the overwhelm. It’s only been the last couple of months that I think I’ve started to feel close to being back to my old self. Though I know it’s not the same, it’s better than it was and I’m hoping it will continue to get better.

So … with that in mind, I have just 4 goals for 2015. These may, over time, develop their own more specific sub goals, but these big-picture items are where I want to spend my energies and I want all of the things I do to come from these places.

1. Be kinder. To myself and to everyone around me. I want to yell less at the kids. I want to give myself breathing room and space. I want to appreciate all that Matt does for our family without getting frustrated about what he hasn’t done. I want to have more patience with the kids when we do homework together. I want to work harder to visit my grandma more often.
2. Keep it simple. I want to say “no” more. I don’t want to be gone every other weekend or to over schedule us so crazily that we can’t breathe and the few scant hours we’re at home are spent running 100 miles an hour catching up on housework and laundry. I want to spend more time at home, use the stuff we have and spend time reading, cooking and playing video games with the kids.
3. Take care of myself. Continue to do the good things I’m doing and work on banishing the things that don’t serve me and my health well. Less sugar. Less processed. More hiking and biking. More meditation, relaxation and sleep.
4. Create. I want to create more … any type of creating: blog posts, journal entries, food, photographs, sewing, doodling, crafts, ads posters and brochures for work whatever. With others or on my own.

In some cases, I have some more specific goals that maybe I’d like these areas to culminate in … like running another half marathon and/or doing another triathlon. But as part of numbers 1-3, I’m not committing to anything like that right now. I want to work on these and see where I am in a couple of months.

I hope 2015 is a great year for myself, my family and friends and all of you. Happy New Year.