2018 - Here We Come
Well folks, we made it to 2018. I think I am not alone when I look back at 2016 and 2017 and think, how the hell did we even make it out alive? You feel me? I guess it's because tucked in amongst all those dark clouds of loss, political disaster, and the countless stories of sexual harassment, there have been glimpses of silver linings.
Last year the Nate Howe Adventure Fund, the scholarship we started and named in honor of my nephew, was able to fully fund 14 students on overnight school trips, including camping trips and trips to Washington DC. This year we opened up donations to the public and have already surpassed what we raised last year. (Donate here! Select Nate Howe Adventure Fund.) For every threat of nuclear war and political fall out, there have been stories of hope, determination, and joy. Women of the world are standing up and saying enough is enough to sexual harassment and mistreatment. Have you heard about the new Times Up initiative? Bravo, ladies!
I'm sitting here in our first snow storm of 2018 and it is a doozy. We're resting comfortably inside while the world outside snows, blows, and apparently floods. Did you know that some people joke about measuring snow storms in french toast? As in, the bigger the storm, the more eggs and bread you should buy ahead of time. I don't know how many french toasts this storm measures but we capitalized on the opportunity and made some french toast for breakfast.
Let's talk resolutions. Did you meet yours from last year? I didn't fare so well. I met my personal goal that was too personal to mention. So that works. But from the list of other goals...well, not so much.
1. Read 30 minutes every day. Nope.
2. More dates, at least one date night a month. We did ok. I think we missed 3 months. But it definitely increased our amount of informal dates. So, win?
3. Fly fishing. Wah wah. Not even putting on the list any more.
4. Chop onions fast. Nope.
5. Multiple poached eggs. Nope.
6. Don't work at summer camp. YES! I did meet this goal and I managed to not spend all my money so this will be the new summer plan moving forward.
Let's move on to 2018. I've read more posts about not making resolutions this year. I know people are against them and listen, if your goal is to lose any amount of pounds, I am against it too. But I love my resolutions! Really I've almost always met them. The story to my success is to make the goals specific, but not too specific. For example, I had the resolution to do 60 new things but I didn't make a list of what those 60 things would be. So my goal was achieved and I had the flexibility to work with it as I moved through the list. I also had a goal to say yes to more things one year. But lose __ pounds? Yeah, that's not ever going on my list.
I also like to set my time frame with a realistic expectation. This is why reading 30 minutes every day didn't work. I know that SMART goals tell you it has to be that specific but these are resolutions, not SMART goals. I really should know better by now to make any goal that has a timeline including the words "every" and "day." Life happens, man, and doing something every day, other than waking up and going to bed, is not going to happen.
This year, I have one resolution and one bonus resolution that I'm still undecided about. My main resolution is to do something every month that scares me. This does not mean picking up snakes or eating worms. I'm not thinking Fear Factor level scaring. I mean the things that I don't do, that I avoid, because I'm afraid it won't work or I'm afraid of the consequences. I did start to make a list of things that could be possibilities. First and foremost is to finish revising a book I wrote in 2017. I finished it in October and have been avoiding work on it like the plague. That's scary thing number 1. Scary thing number 2 will be to send that puppy off to an editor. That has a deadline of February 2nd so I need to get on that with the quickness.
Resolution number 2, that I've considered other years, is to read every single Newbery Award winning book. The award was started in 1922 and with the announcement of this year's winner in just a few weeks, there will be a total of 96 books. I went through the list and took out the ones I've read and remember and that leaves me with 71 books to read. Can I read a book a week? Perhaps. I'm going to give it a whirl and see what happens..
So how about you? Feeling hopeful about 2018? Are you on the "ditch the resolutions" bandwagon? Hope wherever you are, you are staying warm and cozy!
In 2017, I traveled to my maternal Grandmother's hometown. Our family settled in Nilwood, IL, in the late 1800s. |
Last year the Nate Howe Adventure Fund, the scholarship we started and named in honor of my nephew, was able to fully fund 14 students on overnight school trips, including camping trips and trips to Washington DC. This year we opened up donations to the public and have already surpassed what we raised last year. (Donate here! Select Nate Howe Adventure Fund.) For every threat of nuclear war and political fall out, there have been stories of hope, determination, and joy. Women of the world are standing up and saying enough is enough to sexual harassment and mistreatment. Have you heard about the new Times Up initiative? Bravo, ladies!
I'm sitting here in our first snow storm of 2018 and it is a doozy. We're resting comfortably inside while the world outside snows, blows, and apparently floods. Did you know that some people joke about measuring snow storms in french toast? As in, the bigger the storm, the more eggs and bread you should buy ahead of time. I don't know how many french toasts this storm measures but we capitalized on the opportunity and made some french toast for breakfast.
Snow at 9 am |
At about 3 pm |
We made french toast. mmmmm |
Let's talk resolutions. Did you meet yours from last year? I didn't fare so well. I met my personal goal that was too personal to mention. So that works. But from the list of other goals...well, not so much.
1. Read 30 minutes every day. Nope.
2. More dates, at least one date night a month. We did ok. I think we missed 3 months. But it definitely increased our amount of informal dates. So, win?
3. Fly fishing. Wah wah. Not even putting on the list any more.
4. Chop onions fast. Nope.
5. Multiple poached eggs. Nope.
6. Don't work at summer camp. YES! I did meet this goal and I managed to not spend all my money so this will be the new summer plan moving forward.
Let's move on to 2018. I've read more posts about not making resolutions this year. I know people are against them and listen, if your goal is to lose any amount of pounds, I am against it too. But I love my resolutions! Really I've almost always met them. The story to my success is to make the goals specific, but not too specific. For example, I had the resolution to do 60 new things but I didn't make a list of what those 60 things would be. So my goal was achieved and I had the flexibility to work with it as I moved through the list. I also had a goal to say yes to more things one year. But lose __ pounds? Yeah, that's not ever going on my list.
I also like to set my time frame with a realistic expectation. This is why reading 30 minutes every day didn't work. I know that SMART goals tell you it has to be that specific but these are resolutions, not SMART goals. I really should know better by now to make any goal that has a timeline including the words "every" and "day." Life happens, man, and doing something every day, other than waking up and going to bed, is not going to happen.
This year, I have one resolution and one bonus resolution that I'm still undecided about. My main resolution is to do something every month that scares me. This does not mean picking up snakes or eating worms. I'm not thinking Fear Factor level scaring. I mean the things that I don't do, that I avoid, because I'm afraid it won't work or I'm afraid of the consequences. I did start to make a list of things that could be possibilities. First and foremost is to finish revising a book I wrote in 2017. I finished it in October and have been avoiding work on it like the plague. That's scary thing number 1. Scary thing number 2 will be to send that puppy off to an editor. That has a deadline of February 2nd so I need to get on that with the quickness.
Resolution number 2, that I've considered other years, is to read every single Newbery Award winning book. The award was started in 1922 and with the announcement of this year's winner in just a few weeks, there will be a total of 96 books. I went through the list and took out the ones I've read and remember and that leaves me with 71 books to read. Can I read a book a week? Perhaps. I'm going to give it a whirl and see what happens..
So how about you? Feeling hopeful about 2018? Are you on the "ditch the resolutions" bandwagon? Hope wherever you are, you are staying warm and cozy!
Comments
Post a Comment