Crazy enough, it's been working out better than making resolutions.
I'm still not a big believer in resolutions, but I am a fan of pausing at least once a year to consider what's been accomplished and how I want to keep growing, improving.
In rereading my thoughts for the start of 2014, I still very much the same way.
Thinking back about 2014, it was a tough year. There was loss, lots of stress and emergency back surgery for Grover.
But it was also a year of progress, accomplishment and opportunity.
I won't be making resolutions again this year.
I will instead focus on continuing to build a life with M. Continue learning and building our minifarm. Continue learning what works for me in terms of staying in shape. Continue building my confidence and rebuilding my skating skills. Continue my mission to turn the rink into a fantastic place. Continue figuring out how I work best, in terms of work, side projects, blogging and everything else I take on. Continuing our move toward healthier eating and cooking. Continuing our shift toward a simpler life. Continue clearing the clutter.
But there are some things I specifically want to focus on.
I want to worry less. Especially about things I have no power to change. On the things I can chance, I want to focus more on action.
I want to fear less. I don't know when it happened that the thoughts of "I can't do that," or "That's going to hurt," or "What if this all falls apart," or other voices of fear crept into my mind, but they did. Granted, fear is totally normal when it comes to doing life changing things, or throwing yourself into the air while skating on ice, but some of that fear has been holding me back from doing some of those big things I've been wanting to do. Some failure has serious implications. I have to get paid to help make mortgage payments, but more often than not, the sky won't fall if I fail.
I want to spend less time plugged in. I love connecting through social media and for work, it's become a skill my job depends on, but, I want to overcome that feeling that I'm missing something if I'm not scrolling through my Twitter feed multiple times a day.
This video struck a cord with me, even though I truly believe social media can be a powerful tool, I wonder if we aren't losing our ability to genuinely connect with people in real life.
I want to be a maker. When I was younger, I made tons of things. I sewed, I knit, I baked, I crafted, I wrote, I danced, I sang, I created. Those things do take time and sometimes more time than I have, but I want to recondition my mind to focus more on what I can do for myself, by myself, and then to relearn how to do it all.
I want to be a thinker. My job requires it, my hobbies require it, but sometimes I find myself so overwhelmed with the tasks that I don't have time to genuinely think. And really, I find that the more I think about things, the more the ideas flow. Ideas that make all my to-do lists of tasks turn into amazing realities that really do move mountains.
How did 2014 go for you? What did you learn? How will you continue your progress in 2015?
And a small favor. If you have a few minutes, would you kindly take this Play Positive pledge to support my rink? If we make it to the top 5, we win $2,500 that will help us make repairs and grow all the programs I've been working on!