A New Year

It's a New Year, and no better time than that to make some changes in life, right? Well, I am big on lists (part of my slightly obsessive personality) and have always been big on "New Year's Resolutions." However, sometimes when you call them that it seems daunting and cliché. So, this year I am changing my terminology. This year they're just going to be "Goals for '09." We'll see if the lexical swap does anything for my ability to keep up with them ;) Here are a few that I will share:

- Spend time in God's Written Word and prayer every day.
- Run at least 1000 miles this year (and possibly marathon #2).
- Be more organized on all fronts. Get my house clean and then keep it that way most of the time. Be ready for company at the drop of a hat. Get in a daily routine and stay in it. Make meal plans and stick with them. Sort through every single piece of paper in my house and either put it in it's place, or pitch it (which means I have to establish a lot of "places.") Clean out all the closets - and get rid of the junk! You get the idea. This will be a lot of work, but SOOOOO worth it!
- I don't have a pound goal. I never do. However, I would like to work out more consistently and eat a much healthier diet than we do. I figure if I do those 2 things, the pounds take care of themselves.
- Read more - "business" and pleasure ;)
- Possibly pursue more schooling - that'll be something to think about.
- Work on amending my lingering personality flaws. There are many. They are annoying and unacceptable, though I seem to accept them and they persist through thick and thin. If you know of something I should be working on, you should tell me so I can :)
- Either pick up a new and exciting pastime, or spend more time doing things that I call hobbies - like playing trumpet, scrapbooking, learning a few languages, training my dogs, etc.

I'm sure there are more, but I'm tired. And that's a decent start. Does anyone have any they care to share?

Let's see, just for fun, how I did with the resolutions I posted at the beginning of '08.

#1: "Taking better advantage..." - I didn't do as well as I had hoped, though it wasn't a total failure. Certainly nothing to be proud of.

#2: "Manifesting more attributes..." - Again, I feel like progress was made. However, not as much as I would have liked. I'll have to keep working on both of these in 2009.

#3: "Giving of myself..." - I tried. I can think of things I did which were a step in the right direction, though I don't know if I can always claim pure motives and thoughts. Another work in progress...

#4: "Being 'better'..." - Progress was made. I'm certainly not perfect.

#5: "Getting more prepared..." - I hope so. I have no way to measure this. So we'll have to say maybe and leave it at that.

#6: "Getting organized..." - Well, judging by what I said my goal was for '09 I'm going to have to say I didn't do all that well with it in '08. Not a great track record. I made a little progress, but not nearly enough. Try again.

#7: "Learning..." - Nope. I didn't. Not any of them. Hardly worked on them. Another to try again.

#8: "Reprioritizing..." - Well, I suppose I did to a certain extent. I'll have to keep working here too.

#9: "Keeping in touch better..." - Actually, I did do a little better at this one in '08. I'm happy - I love my family and friends.

#10: "Getting in shape..." - Well, I did, and then I got back out. So I get to start over. But I did get that first marathon done.

#11: "Training my dogs..." - Unfortunately not as much as I'd have liked. They're all fairly well behaved, but there could be work to do if I made myself do it. Just another thing to keep plugging away at...

Well, that was a humbling little exercise. Do you do any sort of annual personal inventory? It's humbling, and a little encouraging. I have a lot of work to do!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Last night Narasimha and I sat around with friends at their house and talked and laughed to ring in the New Year - nothing too exciting, but something we would much prefer over say "going out." We had a good time :) Then today Narasimha didn't have to work so we started to get ready for our crazy January (more to come about that later in the week). I know it's kinda nutty, and often doesn't do any good, but I am a New Year's Resolution person. I think I always have been - sometimes I'll flip through notebooks I had when I was younger - little even - and find funny lists that were to serve as my resolutions on any given new year. It's funny to see how our priorities change over time :) I was going to share some of the things I have thought about resolving to do during 2008 - this isn't everything I have thought of, and I am sure I'll forget some stuff because I haven't actually written anything down until now. I will try to make this in order of importance.

-Taking better advantage of all God has to offer me in order to know Him better, and giving more of myself to Him. So, prayer, studying the Bible, applying what I study to my life, etc. I got a concordance for Christmas so I am actually really excited to see what I can do with that. In the last few years, I have gotten more and more excited about intensive and complete studies of really any part of the Word of God.
-Manifesting more attributes of the fruit of God's Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) more often and more perfectly in my life - there is a LOT of work involved with this one! This is actually one I made last year too, and feel like I have made some progress, but there will always be room to improve here.
-Giving of myself more to people around me, by way of love, time, resources, etc., and never pausing to think who it is or what I'll get out of it.
-Being "better" at the roles I play: wife, friend, sister(in-law), daughter(in-law), follower of Christ, housekeeper, coach, pet owner, etc.
-Get more prepared for what I hope is one of the next roles to be blessed with: mother.
-Getting organized at home, and getting settled 100% in our house. In the 3+ years we lived in our old house, I don't think we ever felt completely settled.
-Learning Telugu (Narasimha's native language) and how to play the piano and possibly guitar.
-Reprioritizing my "free" time - taking better advantage of this time to do things I care about but put off a lot - reading, scrapbooking, writing, sewing, cooking, etc.
-Keeping in touch better with those I care about - visiting, phone calls, letter-writing, emailing.
-Getting and staying in shape, and running at least one (my first) marathon.
-Training my dogs better and teaching them to do some cool tricks.

I must be missing some, but for now this will have to do to get me started :)