Friday, January 2, 2015

Holding Loosely


I stopped making resolutions years ago.  It's probably all mind tricks, but I like to refer to my plans for the new year as goals.  When you veer away from a resolution, there is a feeling of failure.  If you veer away from a goal, you can re-prioritize, reorganize, and start again. Goals can always be tweaked and adjusted.  Often it's necessary.

I'm still pondering my goals for 2015.  I have plans to run two big races in the spring-- a 10 miler and a half-marathon.  I need to drink more water and focus on getting enough calories during training.

I want to continue to have fun in the kitchen.  I want to expand my canning abilities.  I want encourage Owen to grow his baking and cooking skills. 
(And I want to do it all joyfully without griping about the mess.)

New Year's breakfast scone, bursting with chocolate

My to-read list numbers in the thirties now (and growing), but I don't have a specific number in mind to complete  Last year I wanted to read 50 books-- about a book a week-- and far exceeded that goal, but I don't want to be held to a number.  (I'm afraid I'll shy away from long books like this one in an effort to finish more.)

I want to be present in the little moments
, making memories with my kids in both the mundane everyday routine and in the bigger things.

I need to have an open, willing heart to what the Lord has planned for our family in the coming year, realizing that His ways are often not my ways.

I'm feeling called to be less structured with blogging this year and so I've decided not to plan a regular, quarterly update discussing my goal progress, but I will be giving glimpses here and there when it's worth sharing.

Before I go, I need to tie up a few loose ends from last year. When I did my quarterly goal check in October, most of my goals had been neatly completed and put on the shelf, but two remained: 

  • Run a 10K in the fall.
    I trained diligently through the summer and put in many early morning humid miles in preparation.  I ran a time trial at home to set a reasonable time goal for myself.  But then a few days before the race, the nasty weather caused the race organizers to cancel the 10K portion of the race.  I ran the 5K instead...in the rain!... but I've still not run an officially organized 10K.  Maybe in 2015.


  • Learn to change the oil in the van and learn to change the wiper blades, too.
    This goal is destined to remain undone.  For the second year in a row, I let it sit untouched.  Oh well.   I do want to learn some day.






                                      

4 comments:

  1. Love you have changing the oil and wiper blades as a goal thats cool!
    They have some great youtube videos on things like that ,Aron has gone to them a few times to learn how to fix something on our vehicles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know why I didn't think of that, Raya. Of course, Brian knows how to do all the stuff and he could teach me, but it's never convenient when he's doing it. Either that, or I'm too lazy to make the time. ;-)

      Delete
  2. I don't really make New Year resolutions, either. I figure if I know something needs to change, why wait for a specific date? Do it now! But I do take the change of the calendar as an opportunity to do a general evaluation of goals and ways to accomplish those goals.

    I'm sorry that the 10K portion of the race was cancelled. Doing the 5K (well, the abbreviated 5K) in the rain made me feel like I could do just about anything. Enjoy your training!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne, I feel the same way! Why wait when you can seize the day? But I also agree that the new year makes me turn inward and evaluate what needs changing or what I want to learn. It helps that Brian's winter break from work begins at the same time. It feels like a fresh start.

      I ran today in the rain. It was not nearly as dismal as the day of that race, but it certainly tests the mental fortitude!

      Delete