Resoluting

I love resolutions.
I love setting goals, making plans, and proving to myself and anybody else who cares that I can achieve them.
I love how making resolutions forces you to reflect on your life, to live consciously, and to continue to challenge yourself and keep on growing.
I love that it often means you are starting over, starting fresh, beginning anew.

But I never make New Year's Resolutions.
Instead, I make birthday resolutions.  My birthday is at the end of January, so I have about a month to see how the new year is going and make thoughtful and meaningful resolutions.

This year, however, something got into me.
I think I left India in a bit of a flurry;
a lot was going on, and I was feeling like things were flying from my grasp.
I realized that I needed to be more organized.

And there I had it: a resolution.
Which turned into another one
and another one
and before you know it,
I had resoluted quite a few things.
And yes, I am completely aware that the verb is "resolve"
not resolute.
But I like resolute, so I shall keep it that way.

My resolutions?
My resolutions are all about intention.
Being intentional.
And being the type A,
concrete sequential person that I once was
(I'm recovering)
I know that all goals (resolutions) must be
SMART
and won't be accomplished without a plan of action.

So.
In 2013,
Let's be intentional.

I'm going to be intentional about
1. Being organized
    (Got a planner...and I'm using it!)
2. Living healthily
    (Bought a blender so I can get my fruits and veggies!)
3. Saving money
    (Made a budget...and I plan to keep it!)
    (I also may join my super awesome best friend in resoluting to not buy any new clothes this year...thoughts?)
4. Doing more art
    (Dedicate time each week to writing and crafting)
5. Falling in love with Jesus, heart mind and soul
    (Check out this scripture memory plan from Ann Voskamp! Want to join me?)

Yup, 2013's the year of being intentional.  And although these 5 are at the foundation, the action plans will likely become webs of thought and activity.

So thankful for a new year!  What hopes or resolutions do you have for your 2013?

Setting Goals

When working on a college application workshop for high school students today, I wrote the question, “What are your life goals?”  It gave me pause, and my mind went rambling.

Those of you who know me well know that I love setting goals.  Every time I hit a crossroads in life, I look back at my goals, make new goals, and see how the paths may lead to achieving these goals.  I make birthday resolutions of goals for my new year.  I have a “dreams and desires” notebook that I’ve kept since my freshman year of college which holds just that – dreams and desires – as well as a 6-year-old Dove dark chocolate wrapper with the ‘promise’ “Make a list of your dreams”.  When mentoring youth, the first thing I challenge them is to make a list of their goals, dreams, and ambitions.  It tells you a lot about who you are, how you were made, and what you were made for (sorry for ending this sentence with a preposition; it’s the Minnesotan in me).

So I thought about my goals.  And I realized that it’s time to seriously reevaluate…because I have achieved most of them.  Yeah.  I’m not bragging or anything, but I feel kind of at a loss.  I’m not even 25 and I’ve achieved most of the goals that I listed: Live abroad: check.  Go to graduate school: check.  Write a book: check.  Go white water rafting: check.  Learn Italian: check.  Learn recycled breathing: Well, I haven’t really started working on this one yet…

But seriously.  Apart from a few adventure goals (explore the Amazon), the funny dreams (be in a Narnia movie), and the very intangible (make a difference), there’s nothing left.  Except to run a marathon, and I’m pretty confident that this won’t happen while I live in Bangalore because the pedestrian safety of this city (aka the walkability of its streets/sidewalks) is .46.  Not sure of what scale that’s on, but I am pretty confident that it is over 50% less than walkable.  Not to mention that every time you try to run, you get chased by a dog. Or two. Or three. Or more.

So. perhaps its time to write more life goals. 

Or maybe, just maybe, my life has taken the turn into an era where I don’t have SMART goals, I don’t have a timeline of my life and of what should happen where.  Rather, I have overarching themes which I want my life to follow – always seek to know God, be known by Him, and make Him known.  Prioritize relationships.  Never stop learning, questioning, contributing.  Love what I do and make sure I am always striving to make a difference.  Live creatively.  Laugh a lot. 

The thought of a life without concrete goals scares me a bit; I really like crossing things off, looking at the list of goals with a little tickmark and a date next to it.  And makes me more than a little bit aware that I don’t want to live aimlessly; without definite purpose.  But there is a strange freedom in the ambiguity of themes, and it’s a freedom that lets me hold onto my life with hands wide open.  A freedom that reminds me to love what I do and do what I love, to never settle for anything that drains me instead of energizing, and to be good to and real with myself at all times.

Hmmmm…