In 2013 I came up with four things I wanted to work towards, all of which were things that work towards my overall life goals. They were to move more, complete a 365 day photo project, complete another Nanowrimo challenge and read fifty books. Each of these resolutions have had their own challenges and they are also ones that I have ignored in other years so I was pretty determined to complete them.
The resolution to move more was probably the easiest of all the resolutions because it was vague enough not to give me outlandish goals but still specific enough to get me up off the couch. This resolution took me a while to actually fulfill because it wasn’t until I got my fitbit that I actually could see that I was actively working towards moving more. I have already written about how wonderful this change has been for me. It has been incredibly powerful to see results that I want and at a steady pace. I feel like this resolution is one that I can check off as being completed without any second thoughts.
The second resolution is also one that I’m happy to say was a success. In 2012 I started to do a picture a day with the plan of completing an album of 365 moments that would have made up my year. I did not complete this project in 2012 – in fact I made it to October and completely gave up on it which made me even more determined to do it this year. I mean really I was so close to be done it was silly to stop. I’m ecstatic to say that I have completed this project (my very last photo is of the movie poster for The Book Thief which I saw this afternoon). The difference this year is that I created and printed the pages as I went along. As I started to see the finished pages coming to the house I realized how truly special and great this project is. I think it is my favourite album that I have created to this point in my life as a scrapbooker. This year was an amazing year in a lot of ways and I have it all captured to remember forever. I highly recommend everyone doing something like this. There were times it felt like a drag or I would wonder how much I would really like to see hundreds of pictures of my cat or my dinners but when I look at the album even those pictures are pretty special and tell a story.
My third resolution is the one disappointment of the year. I did not do Nanowrimo this year. I had planned on signing up to do the summer camp version again which was being held in July. I signed up with intentions of working on a novel I have been researching for a bit but after the craziness of the floods in June I just couldn’t seem to get to a spot where I could actually focus and get to work. I had a second opportunity to try in November and I did consider it but November is a notoriously busy month for me because of the work I put into our adopted Christmas family so rather than disappoint myself with an unfinished goal I put it to the side for the year.
My last resolution to read fifty books was actually added towards the end of the first week of January. I have always loved reading but since graduating from university I have found that I don’t do as much of it as I would like. I’m far too easily distracted by other things and even with the resolution I still didn’t quite make it to my goal. I read 28 books this year. I am a little disappointed by this but at the same time I’m pretty sure it is more than I have read in any year since I left university. What I wasn’t expecting from this resolution though is that I would fall in love with fiction again. A lot of the reading I had been doing was more research type books. I got lost in a world of history and forgot how much fun losing myself in fiction could be. Of all four resolutions this one was by far the most fun to try and achieve and so I don’t consider it a failure only getting part of the way to the end – it just means I have to try again.
Now as we stand at the start of a brand new year and I have done the look back it is time to look forward. I have once again created a list of resolutions and much like last year I’m going to document them so that they stay fresh and I actually work towards them. I plan on looking back at the end of 2014 and having even more check marks for completed resolutions. So here is the list for 2014:
·
Move More/Lose More
o
With my fitbit I get a weekly report of what my
average steps per day is and I plan on recording that on my blog page. My last week was not my best week but it is
the starting point. I average
6,535. This time next year I would like
to see that number doubled. Of course
with moving more I expect to see my weight continue to drop. This will be especially important because I
have big plans for 2015 and I don’t want to be slowed down by my weight.
·
At least one day a week is a vegetarian day
o
In the summer this past year I decided to try to
go part time vegetarian and I loved it.
I have continued to have meat free days and want to keep this
going. I love the variety it has brought
into my diet and I look forward to continuing to explore other food choices.
·
Regular blog posts
o
I try to be good about posting but having just
cleared out my blog posts folder on my computer and I realized that I write a
lot that I never post. So this year I
will try to not let fear/nerves get in the way from me posting. It also encourages me to set aside time each
week to do some writing which also helps me keep motivated on working on my
fiction
·
365 Photos for 2014
o
I wasn’t sure I was going to put this on the
list again. I loved my 2013 project but
it has felt like a burden at times but at the same time like I said above it is
one of my favourite albums so how could I not do it again. I expect 2014 to be filled with just as many
memories that I want to capture.
·
Read 50 books
o
Yep this one is back again too. What can I say but I hate to see things
incomplete so it is back and this year I will do it. I have proved to myself in the last couple
months I am capable of reading a book a week so I just have to make sure I do
it consistently this year.
·
Complete a Nanowrimo challenge
o
That’s right it is another of my resolutions
that has come back. I just want to prove
to myself that the first year I did this and completed a novel wasn’t a fluke –
besides I also figure it is a good excuse to actually get my Titanic/WWI novel
written.
I have to say that as great as 2013 was for me I am more excited to see what 2014 has in store. I feel like each year just gets better and better so how can next year not be amazing. I think as each year goes by I get closer and closer to being the person I really want to be.
Before I end this post I just want to take a minute and wish you all a very Happy New Year. I hope that 2014 is a stellar year for all of us. I hope it will be a year filled with good deeds, good friends and a whole lot of memories.
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