Happy New Years Eve

Or at least, that's when I started this post, so instead, since I'm publishing it on Tuesday, Happy Tuesday!

I don't particularly believe in New Years resolutions, mainly I think because it seems like something cheese-tastic and silly that gets done with no real commitment to it. I have goals, like lots of people, and I do use the new year to sort of re-evaluate where I'm at with them and how far I've come or not come. But my goals don't usually change. Actually each year the list probable gets longer because as I work toward correcting one thing something new pops up and must be added, it's like focusing on trying to change one area of character automatically means another area feels unattended to and goes hog wild.

SO my list of goals can be broken down into two categories: 1. specifically spiritual, and 2. daily functional. Because yeah, I'd like to lose 20 lbs by my birthday or be more organized, but those things don't change my heart or my spiritual state. And without setting spiritual goals for ourselves we get stagnant or just end up going in circles. So here are my goals:

SPECIFICALLY SPIRITUAL:

1. Discipline - This one is pretty self explanatory, and usually ends up as like #4 or 5 like "Oh yeah, I need to be more disciplined" but as I was compiling my list this year I thought about how if I am more disciplined it will be a starting point for me to be strengthened in most of my other goals. So I gave it top billing. Kind of a "if you build it they will come" kind of thing.

2. Competitive nature - This doesn't mean what you think it means. It's complicated. There are certain people with whom I am in some sort of weird competition. It's not everyone and it's not all the time, but there is this very strange superiority complex part of me that compares my life or job or attitude or church involvement or whatever to someone else. It's honestly not about making myself look or feel good, I think it's more about reassuring myself that that person is not as good as everyone else thinks, and though other people may be duped, I'm not. That's not even a good explanation. I know that makes me sound like a horrible person but at least I know that I do this and am trying to work on it. We all have faults, man.

3. Joyfulness/Bad attitude - Sometimes joy is hard for me. A big part of that is my job. That's not an excuse, it's actually part of the goal. I work in a pretty stressful, not fun environment and for the last almost 4 years it has certainly sucked my joy. And the thing is that I know that my job is a place where I need to retain that joy the most since almost all of my other environments are with Christian people in Christian places, and my job is a place where I should be a light. But the fact that I can get so bogged down and let it fester just totally changes my disposition at work and completely makes me unproductive as a Christian in this unChristian world. Truthfully, it can eek out into other areas of my life and it's something I need to control.

4. Tithing/Money management - I don't totally suck here. But I'm certainly not as compliant slash attentive as I should be. For the last couple years I have probably been the most responsible I have ever been where money is concerned and I really like that I'm developing that skill. But I need to take it further. Being better doesn't mean being awesome at it, it's just better than being terrible at it.

5. Pray without ceasing/Read or Meditate on the Word daily - Again, pretty easy to get.

FUNCTIONAL GOALS:

1. Exercise (in some way), every day - I like fun exercise. Climbing trees, playing at the park, going swimming. It's easier for me to exercise when it's something other than a treadmill or stair climber, though I do want to incorporate that.

2. Make an effort to eat healthy - I know that this sounds pretty blah as far as goals go, but it's not. My meals during the week are pretty regulated. I love LOVE healthy cereal and oatmeal so I always eat that for breakfast, my lunch is whatever is for lunch at work that day and because I work in a nursing home, that means the lunch is automatically portion and calorie controlled. Then dinner and evening snack on my own, but I do okay. That's how it is NOW. Post baby I won't be at work so I will lose that structure and that automatically controlled lunch. Plus I'll be home all day....bored munching is never good. So this is more of a upcoming goal than a current behavior changing goal.

3. Make one home cooked meal a week - I'm not talking hamburger helper (though I love it), or spaghetti because those are things that are relatively easy. I'm saying once a week I'd like to make something from scratch-ish that takes effort and a little time. This might sound again like a dull goal, but truthfully I really enjoy cooking, and I want to make sure I keep it as part of my life. I know baby will make things complicated, so this is a flexible goal, but I want to keep it as an official goal so that I try to honor it.

4. Be less cluttered/Live more simply - I know any current moms reading this are laughing at all my practical goals, and probably collapsed laughing at this one. But I need this goal. I'm a pretty cluttered person in general. I'm working right now at uncluttering (I did the upstairs last weekend and it went like gangbusters!!!) and I need to maintain that mindset. I'm not saying have my home spic and span all the time, I'm just saying don't keep crap I don't use/need and don't let stuff just pile up because I don't know what to do with it.

So. Those are my goals. :)