For days now I've been thinking about what I wanted to write when I got the opportunity. Mainly I've been mulling over whether I was going to set resolutions for this year and if so, what they were going to be. I have some physical fitness goals in mind that I'm not quite ready to disclose yet, but what about other stuff? I definitely want to continue last year's resolution of reading a lot, but I feel like that's a habit I mastered in 2015 that will easily continue on. And of course there's doing the "In This House, We Will Giggle" book again...perhaps slightly more focused this go-round. (Is it a bad sign that it's January 7th and I haven't put up this month's virtue and bible verse card yet? ...Nah.)
But what else? I know I want to finish 2016 better than I started, but what does that mean? How can my task-oriented brain quantify that so that come December 31st I know whether or not I succeeded?
I started by choosing three areas I wanted to improve (believe me, there are more. I just know from experience that I need to focus on a few at a time): organization, giving/serving, and connections with others.
I'm a big believer in setting goals, writing them down, and measuring your progress. Or rather, I'm a big believer that if you don't do those things, it's highly unlikely that you will accomplish said goals. I think we all know I love a good list-making and box-checking session, so in that spirit, I wrote out my three goals and broke them down into corresponding schedules/tasks to increase their odds of getting done.
1) Get more organized. I know some of you think I'm already an OCD freak and are rolling your eyes at me, but it's all relative. When you have young kids, it is a CONSTANT battle with clothes and toys (and the time to deal with the aforementioned clothes and toys.) I feel like I do a decent job of staying on top of clutter, but even so, it somehow manages to sneak up on me. Most of the time it's all I can do to maintain and what has been neglected is starting to pile up. I really would like to do a room-by-room, closet-by-closet, drawer-by-drawer purge this year.
To aid in that goal, I broke the house into two segments (mainly determined by what is driving me craziest right now as well as consignment sale timing) and will do a clean-out of each room as listed twice per year. Some sweeps may be quick, some may be more thorough, but the point is to empty this house of more than we bring into it this year and end 2016 feeling a little lighter.
1st and 3rd quarter focus: Playroom, kids' rooms, basement, master bedroom and closet
2nd and 4th quarter focus: Craft room, kitchen, office, bathrooms, garage, miscellaneous
2) Give/Serve More. We're going to continue co-leading our small group and I will definitely keep up my volunteering roles at the kids' schools, but I wanted to tangibly do more and involve Audrey and Luke without overwhelming my schedule or my family - no small feat! I spent an hour or so thinking this through and digging around on the internet to come up with one project per month. Some are big things, some are small, and all projects are flexible and can be switched, replaced, or added to. The point was to be intentional and get something on the calendar so it's more likely to get done. Hopefully that will help make serving a year-round habit for our family.
January - clean out and donate unused clothes and household items (ongoing, but a big focus on it this month!)
February - make valentines for nursing home residents
March - work on a Habitat for Humanity build
April - walk/run in a local 5k that supports a worthy cause
May - put together "birthday boxes" for kids in a local shelter/foster program
June - volunteer for our neighborhood's adopt-a-mile program
July - write thank you cards for soldiers
August - donate school supplies to students in need
September - put on the Timber Trek
October - participate in neighborhood canned food drive
November - bake cookies for local firefighters and police officers
December - participate in school's Toys for Tots and 12Stone's Operation Christmas Child and/or other Christmas initiative
3) Improve connections with others. Study after study has shown that it's experiences with people that bring about the biggest increase in happiness. In her book The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin states "One conclusion was blatantly clear from my happiness research: everyone from contemporary science to ancient philosophers agree that having strong social bonds is probably the most meaningful contributor to happiness....Not only does having strong relationships make it far more likely that you take joy in life, but studies show that is also lengthens life (incredibly even more than stopping smoking), boosts immunity, and cuts the risk of depression." Well sign me up. Here are the bonds I'm aiming to improve and specific plans I'm making to do so:
- My marriage by spending more quality time with David. I'm aiming for a date night every other week...once a month minimum. Also, a night for kids at grandparents once very 4-6 weeks and a short trip somewhere.
- My relationships with girlfriends by having one monthly lunch or dinner with one of them and taking my annual trip with Kara.
- My community by attending 2-3 neighborhood social events and planning 2-3 small group social events this year.
- My extended family by getting together a couple of times outside of the kids' birthday parties.
- Blogging more. Okay, this one is a stretch. But getting my words out there is a way for me to feel connected to you and in the long run I have no doubt it'll be a huge connection for my kids to me.
So that's it! Concrete to-dos to help me end this year perhaps a smidge better than I was when I started it. Most of this seems pretty easy, but it is admittedly a ton of different things to check off. The good news is I have nearly 12 months left. The other good news is that even doing SOME of these things is better than none. I know I'll drop the ball on more than one, but I won't let perfection be the enemy of good. Now to go change January's bible verse and virtue card...
