Monday, December 31, 2012

GOALED

This day last year, I spent three hours in my car, driving back to Nashville from Birmingham. No radio, no singing, no iPod: just thinking.

I had so much I wanted to accomplish in 2012 and made a plan. I had three objectives: the first box to check was to get my job situation in a better place. I was fortunate enough to be promoted in February. Once that happened, I was able to move out of downtown and into the suburbs, checking box 2. I love my new home! I gave myself a little under a month to pack, move and unpack before I shifted my focus to check box 3 in May: losing weight and begin living a more healthy lifestyle. I will always be trying to check that box but I had to start somewhere.

All three of those goals were accomplished by June. On top of that, I became an aunt in February to the sweetest, most amazing little boy there ever was:


was treated to five nights in beautiful Punta Cana, Dominican Republic:


and in between those big memories, made hundreds of small ones with friends and family here in Nashville, back in Alabama, and a few places in between.

How do I top this year?!??! It has been one for the ages! Blessings were poured upon me like rain onto the ark. Yet way too often I fall into the trap of focusing on what one thing I don't have, instead of giving thanks for what I do have. And when I truly stop to think about it, my cup runneth over.

I'm not spending three hours in the car today, but I did do a lot of driving recently over Christmas, and I have picked three more boxes to check for the new year! These goals are not Specific, Measurable or Time-Bound, but they are Attainable and Relevant.

The first one is to use the gifts I have been given. I already started that this year, auditioning for my first musical. If it goes well (and so far it is), I want to continue down that path. If not, I will find another outlet.

The second one is to make life easier on myself. Clip and use the coupons that arrive with my Sunday paper instead of filing them away and never looking at them. Create and stick to budgets instead of just tracking cash flow. Use Sundays as a prep day to cook, cut up fruit and vegetables, do chores, etc. so that I am not rushing around in the morning before work or dreading coming home to a uninviting mess. Figure out how to efficiently run a household while I have the room for error/luxury of being the only one in it.

The third, and one I am most excited about, is making life easier on someone else. I made sure to include a commitment to volunteering as one of my goals for 2013 because 2012 was all about me, me, me. I have RSVPed to attend a Nashville Literacy Council training session in January in hopes that I can become a tutor to an illiterate adult.

And in between all of that, I will continue to try to embrace the life I have been given, enjoy the people that are in it, and not complain too hard about turning 30.

Here's to another fantastic year!

2 comments:

Oh goody!

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