Goals for 2012

I don’t do resolutions. The word itself has a certain connotation of failure attached. Resolutions are meant to be broken.

However, the word goal on the other hand has a different vibe. Reaching goals seems to have more accountability, more of something to reach for.

2011 has been a transition year for me, a year of setbacks as well as a year of challenges for me to overcome. It’s been a year of change for me in a lot of ways and because of this I’ve decided to write down some goals that I think will help center me for the next year and work on some things that I’d like to see happen in my life. I hope to come back to this set of goals throughout the year and blog about my progress in instituting these goals into my everyday life.

1.      Become more spiritually active. This includes reading more about spirituality, finding things at my church to be involved in, but also spending more time specifically on charity and grace in my life. Giving not to receive, and forgiving even when not asked to. Learning to let go of imperfections and not dwell on the little things that go wrong.

2.      Find and cultivate more creativity in my life, including picking up some new interests and renewing myself in long lost ones. The new ones include this blog, to which I hope to add more direction and

photos - pinterest.com

cultivation, as well as getting involved more in the arts. The long lost ones include getting back into creative things that interest me, including theatre and photography. If anyone cares to join me on any of these let me know. I'm happiest with a creative outlet.

3.      Spend some time being fearless; not being afraid of the outcome of my actions and owning up to them when they don’t turn out to end as planned. I want to learn how to be more confident in myself. This one is an ongoing challenge for me.

I'd change this to "You have opinions?"

4.      Continue to be outspoken and not afraid of my own convictions, while being more respectful of other people and their opinions as well. Realizing that you don’t always have to agree to get along. There are a lot of voices in the world that deserve to be heard, and having an opinion is OK. It’s good to stand up for something. 

5.      Be more kind. To everyone. Every day. People I don’t know as well as those I do know. At Christmas mass our priest said in the homily “Christmas is about giving to all. It’s easy to give a gift to someone you love, but when was the last time you gave a gift to someone you didn’t like?”

6.      Actually make a date with a list of people and invite them to dinner or lunch in order to reach out to people I care about that I’d like to be friends with or learn from. Surround myself with people I want to be more like and that I admire.

7.      Travel more, experience new things in life and learn from them to broaden my horizons and understanding of the world. I want to see some new perspectives that are different from my own.

8.      Make goals and keep them to organize my time in order to live the life I want to lead. This includes finishing projects and staying more organized. I've got a lot of these around my house.

9.      Be more patient and understanding while still believing that having high standards of expectation is a good thing. This includes being more patient with my kids and loving my family unconditionally.

10.   Physically take more care of myself and not putting "me" last on the list. Committing to a healthy lifestyle while realizing that Life is a journey not a destination (my favorite overused cliche). I want to be mindful that God gave me one life and one body to take care of every time I do something with it or put something in it. This also includes letting myself get pampered and let off a little stress relief when I need it. Stress really does me in easily, even little things, so I want to make sure I take care not to let it get me down. My family will really appreciate this one.

So that's it. I need to figure out a shorthand version of my 10 goals so that I can tape it to my bathroom mirror or something. I want to be mindful of them every day. I'd love it if you'd share your goals for this next year, we can try to keep each other on track.