Hi! I know I am a few days late in getting this out there, but better late than never, right?
I am a bit disappointed in myself for not following through on the 2018 goals I set for myself. To be honest, 2018 was a hard year for me. It was a stressful and very tiring year. Robert started a new role at work, which meant more hours at work and a lot more stress for him (which in turn put more stress and responsibility on me at the home front). Claire has had some challenging physical things going on and having to deal with and learn about navigating physical therapy with her has been rough for me (It’s nothing too serious health-wise with Claire…just mainly challenging. I will write and explain more about this in a future post). So dealing with that stuff and some other things, I just let my goals and honestly me/self-care just slip right on by. Yes, I am sad and disappointed that I didn’t make progress on my goals, but in looking back…personally I just couldn’t do it/take on any more last year and I am glad I knew when to not push myself and to give myself some grace.
I actually read a blog post today on (in)Courage by Mary Carver and a paragraph she wrote really hit home on how I feel about the last year…
So this year instead (since you never know what might happen), I am calling them “Intentions” rather than “Goals” and am going to do my best to stick with my Intentions this year. To go along with this change in using the word intentions instead of goals…my word I have chosen for the year is “Purposeful“. The definition according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary is
- having a purpose: such as meaningful/intentional
- full of determination
There are things in my life I want to change and I know I need to be intentional and have determination to follow through with them so I will make the changes. This word just encompasses how I want to approach these changes this year…day by day…little by little.
My 2019 Intentions
- I want to grow my Faith:
- read through the Bible in a year
- cultivate my prayer life
- turn to Scripture more than social media (what I mean by that is instead of reaching for my phone to mindlessly scroll through social media, I want to open a Bible app or my Bible and read God’s Word instead)
- I want to develop a healthier lifestyle:
- make healthier choices on a daily basis (i.e. choosing fruits and veggies/limiting gluten and sugar/drinking more water/taking vitamins)
- eventually meeting a 10,000 step count at least 3 to 4 times a week consistently
- lose 35 lbs in my 35th year (I know setting a scale goal is not recommended, but I feel like this is something personally I need to do for me)
- work on weekly meal planning/meal prepping
- I want to create a life-giving/grace-filled home
- decorate our house
- create fun routines/traditions with the girls
- at least one (maybe two) family dinners a week
- date nights with my husband
- make home a fun and safe place to be
- I want to simplify my life
- declutter the house…room by room…ruthlessly (also goes along with the intention above)
- organize photos on phone/computer files/etc.
- clean up e-mails/computer files/social media
- I want to make time for me and my passions
- read 50 books
- blog consistently
- learn photography (both DSLR and iPhone)
- learn hand-lettering
- make something by crocheting, knitting, or cross-stitching
- look into and take action into becoming a Financial Planner of some kind
- I want to advance my career at work
- become Assistant Finance Director
- be involved as Treasurer in AGFOA
- apply for Leadership
- look into becoming a CFPO
So in actually typing it all out, this seems like a lot to strive for and a bit overwhelming. But I think if I take it little by little and mainly focus on my first two intentions (faith and health), I think changes will happen with all of my other intentions listed.
Since I am linking up with the Share Your…linkup hosted by The Bolin Bunch and Tractors and Glam, one additional question they asked is “where do you see yourself in 5 years?”. I have never been good at envisioning long-term goals like this, but I’ve been thinking about it all weekend and have come up with a couple of things to share…
- Have our house paid off (this is the only big remaining debt we have)
- Traveling a lot for fun/pleasure to new places (in the U.S. and also to other countries)
- Possibly working part-time so I can be home with the girls more after school (hard to imagine Emmalyn will be almost 9 and Claire will be almost 6 in 5 years)
- Content and happy with the life God has given me
- Learn about gardening and having a pretty flower garden in front of our house
- Hopefully will be started down the path of having a business in helping people with their finances
Once I started listing things, I feel like I could keep going…the possibilities are endless aren’t they? I guess we won’t know what the future holds, but just know we can trust God and remember He is always good and does things even if we can not understand. It’s fun to dream and see what unfolds and to also strive to achieve something.
In writing this, it made me start thinking about where I was 5 years ago…Emmalyn and Claire hadn’t been born yet (which seems so weird because it feels like they’ve been here always), I hadn’t passed the CPA exam yet, and we had just moved in our house…so weird to think that was all only 5 years ago and what has happened during that time. I know I have grown and matured a lot during this time…I think motherhood does that to you (but that’s another story for another day).
Anyways…sorry for such the long post, but this is one of my favorite posts to do every year. The year just feels so full of promise and possibilities and I’m hoping to make some good, lasting changes for the better in my life in the coming year. I’m looking forward to taking it day by day and seeing what happens in my life and my family’s life this year.
Until next time…keep it simple!
Lindsey
