Setting the Course for 2016 (oh weird, I made some lists)

 

I wanted to write this post and tell you that for the first time in my adult life I have real, legit, New Year’s resolutions! (because all the other years I have copped-out and said my resolution is to ‘chew my food well’, I mean, this really falls in the life skill category, not the resolution one). More specifically, this year I actually wanted to tell you how I chose a theme word like ‘intention’ or ‘passion’ that I would be mindful of each day as I lived out 2016. I even had a word I thought I would apply to this coming year.

But the fact is, I have no clue what I will need to embrace to make the most out of this year. And that excites me.

This past year has been an intense one. . . .

I moved from Dovetail Blog to Simple on Purpose,

started purging our house,

took on a new online project,

attended ROAM and Blissdom,

had some solid sobs and subsequent life changes from learning the Enneagram,

almost ran 5k

and Sophie taught me how to make this cashew sour cream.

I barely recognize my own life anymore, also, I’m not pregnant or nursing a newborn so the (slight) increase in sleep alone makes my life anew.

All of this began at the beginning of last year when I found myself learning about minimalism and about this thing called ‘intentional living’.  Like goal-setting, committing to choices, actually following through on things I say I want to do. I had lived my entire life just making safe, reasonable, comfortable choices. I had spent my entire life coasting (#typenineproblems), and now this mystic, voo doo term of ‘intentional living’ came into sharp focus. I suddenly wanted to be the type of person who does things like parenting on purpose, creates stuff rather than consumes stuff, buys the cookbook AND actually cooks all the recipes!

So Conor and I wrote out some lists last year: dreams we had for raising our children, ourselves, our marriage. Later in the year I added one on mothering that changed my entire mindset around my own unique abilities as a mother.

We sat down last night and read over these lists. Then we made some new ones…

What worked last year; what didn’t work; what do our kids need from us this year; what dreams do we have for ourselves this year; how do we need to grow and take care of ourselves this year; what are we going to do around the house, with our finances, with our marriage.

Resolutions have never been my strength, so I won’t even call these lists ‘resolutions’.  But I do believe in lists, in writing things out, exhausting all the ideas, then picking the most important ones.  I believe we cannot live out the life we want if we don’t identify and form into words the real steps we need to take on how we will get there. And isn’t it weird that writing things out actually make us more likely that we will do them! For real, Science told me! Lists like these don’t have to be complicated, or overwhelming.

Making resolutions is a daunting task and if we utter them outloud then we are held accountable. I think it can be simplified withthis idea ‘do something today your future self will thank you for’.  We wrote down what those ‘somethings’ are for all the areas of our life. Everything on our lists feels simple, doable and necessary to us ending the year without feeling like everything passed us by in a whirlwind of legos, princess dances and diapers. I think it all comes down to this . . .

Because it does pass by, in long days and short years of trying to preserve myself and my sanity. But now I have company –  this gut drive to tend to and make use of all we are given without seeking distractions or becoming complacent. Because, realtalk, each day with our health, our home, our jobs, our families, our friends, the brand name cheese, are a resource and a gift – and I can’t spend another year being reckless or idle with all there is before me.

So I don’t have a theme word yet (unless you count ‘dry-shampoo’). What I do have, right here, right now are a lot of dreams, restlessness, Jesus and a purse full of lipstick and snacks. If I can get a little reckless and motivated then only good things can come from this combination.

I’m so happy you are reading along to share this journey with me.

Love Shawna, Your Nerdy Girlfriend who is trying to live her life, on purpose

Don’t forget to subscribe by email, it is the best way to stay connected to recent blog posts.