Happy new year, whoever you are reading this!
I’ve been trying to think of what kind of resolutions I’ll be making for 2015, or even the format they will take, and I think that I finally managed to think of something that works for me. I’ve been watching a lot of planning videos (sue me) and one of the videos I watched picked a word to kind of lord over all her decisions in 2015, and her word was “Simplify.” For a while, I thought about copying that, but I instead found a phrase—just today!—that I think manages to capture the things I want to do more of this year that I think I kind of neglected in 2014.
“Be intentional.”
I think that most of my disappointment of 2014, despite it being a great year really, is that I wasn’t so intentional about anything. I let things happen to me instead of working at making the things I really want to happen happen. I have a list of specific goals, both small and important, but I think that finding something that really drives me to work at those resolutions is a solid, single phrase.
My groundbreaking (not) discovery about resolutions is that they only work as much as you work on them. So even if I start the year on a hopeful note, nothing’s really going to happen unless I am intentional about it.
Do I want to be healthier? That can’t happen if I don’t work out and eat well. Do I want to be more organized? That can’t happen if I don’t make it a point to always check my calendar and tasks. Do I want to be more financially respectable (haha)? That can’t happen if I don’t think of my money and what I spend it on. You get it.
Anyway, so I have goals and marks I want to hit for the year. I also have something like 43Things (RIP), where I have a list of 43 Things that I want to accomplish in 2015. Some are short-term goals and some are long-term ones, most of them are things I’ve been meaning to do in a while. Every time I complete 1, I’ll add a new task, and so on. I am currently at no. 17 on the list, but I’m trying to be careful and actually write down only things I really, really, really want to accomplish in 2015. So, I have stuff like “apply for a student’s permit” and “read 4 classics” and things like my bank balance goal.
It’s all very boring, but I wanted to keep track.
As far as resolutions go, here’s a list of them by Woody Guthrie in 1942, and it’s basically filled with things that are good to remember in the coming (current?) year:
I especially like 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 26, 31, 32, and 33. via Brainpickings
In Other News:
I met up with my two best friends, Barby and Isa, on the last two days of 2014 and it’s honestly kind of like 2014’s last miracle. See, Barby left for the States some time in 2013 for a vacation… and then didn’t come back, lol.
The last time I saw her was in September when I managed to visit, but she was gone for more than a year by then. Here we were, in Hampton Chutney Co.
Anyway, this was the first time we had been together after a real long while, and I’ve been friends with these two nutters since we were 13? I’m not much of a talker (a fact that frustrates some people to no end) but it’s a different story with these girls. I know I don’t have to worry about what they think of me, or how I arrange myself into a semi-decent person. And I know that conversation will always be coupled with good food.
Anyway, we got to talking about the new year and I’m excited for their plans, and both their journeys makes me feel excited for mine. And that’s saying a lot.