Trying something new

Do you all have your resolutions carefully thought out and safely tucked away? Did you save them somewhere easily accessible where you can look at them every day? Because I think that might be the key to achieving them.

Every year I make out my list of aspirations and resolutions - all of my bright and shiny goals for the new year. And every year I half-keep them in mind.

But I don't usually go back and revisit the file where they're stored very often, probably only once or twice during the year, including the week after Christmas when I'm going through a frenzy of prep and organization for the upcoming year. And by then, it's too probably too late to travel to New Zealand or learn to play the piano.

Still, I typically get quite a few more mundane items accomplished, even if it's only because they're things that are relevant to my every day life. This year, though, I was shocked by how incomplete the 'completed' column was. Because I'm getting old and because my kids are growing up, the time is racing by at an uncontrollable pace. I can't slow it down. I can't even keep track of it's passing, some days thinking it's Wednesday when it's already Friday. It's terrible and frightening. I have lots of things to do still with my life. I need to pay more attention to that and less attention to doing the laundry and loading the dishwasher.

In fact, that's one of my resolutions: To spend more time accomplishing goals and less time worrying about the trivial details.

Not that clean clothes and sanitary eating surfaces are trivial. It's just that they probably aren't as important... oh... say, finishing that book I started writing 3 years ago, taking my daughter on a hot air balloon ride, or helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Know what I mean?

So to help keep me on track to fulfilling the absolutely limitless potential that life holds, I will be keeping New Years Resolutions - 2010.doc open on my desktop, every day of the year. When I turn on my computer in the morning, immediately following the opening of To Do.doc, I will open my Resolutions and review them, with all intention of completing every single item on it within the time frame allotted.

I think it's going to work. I'll keep you updated.