"Success is not measured by what you accomplish but the opposition you have encountered and the courage
with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."

Orison Swett Marden



Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year...Are you making resolutions?

I was writing on my Facebook wall that I don’t really like New Year’s resolutions. They are too easy to break. In 2007, I was very creative and made a small accordion-folding scrapbook that I’d seen in a magazine. I took pictures of things that represented what my goals were for the year. It was actually pretty good. And I did pretty well with my “goals” that year. Hmm…wonder if that would help me this year?

In any case, if I do have a resolution it’s to remember to send birthday cards out. I am so bad at that. And as a grandmother, it’s practically disgraceful! But, I made our 2011 calendar this year and I have all the birthdays on it…even have each person’s picture on their date…so I have no excuse not to remember! And…I have several cards home already so I am going to go through them and figure out what additional cards I need and I am just going to go buy them at once (I know…that will be spendy…cards cost so much these days). I have a special folder to put them in and I should be set! So, if you want me to remember YOUR birthday with a card, make sure I have your birth date and address!

AND....I have a GOAL to start exercising again. I've kind of slacked off the last month. I am going to burn 3 different CDs with rockin' music so I can put it in our new stereo and blast it so I can really get into exercising! I only wish I didn't have arthritis...I'm pretty much stuck to my Gazelle so it gets kind of boring sometimes. Hopefully the blasting music will help!

Beyond that...finish room switcheroos by organizing and cleaning my office and get some ceiling hangers to hang a couple things in my rooms. Further organization of my craft room (I’ve got a lot of stuff). Oh...and after so many years, I want to finally paint our bedroom. It's a boring ivory...I'm going to liven it up with some green! And of course, I want to get back into my scrapbooking. I have a few sewing projects planned too. I guess I need to finally hang that bulletin board up in my craft room and start a to-do list!

On the personal side...find a new therapist who is willing to work with me on my terms. Try to close the books on a few things. Write more. Try to "enlarge my territory" (comes from the Prayer of Jabez)...not sure how I'll be doing that, but I'll try. Continue to be a HopeCoach for TheHopeLine/Dawson McAllister Association. Maybe through that I can somehow enlarge my territory. Also, keep working on that household budget…start paying back for help we’ve received. I’d like to find room in our budget to make sure we make our monthly gift to church and I’d like to start giving to the ASPCA too. Protection and care of animals has become so important to me. I know our Claire did not come from a good home. I don’t think she was outrightly abused, but neglected for sure. We’ve had her for four years…so she’s about five or six…and she is just now finally learning how to play! It’s so fun to see her batting around a toy mouse or something like that. She was deprived of that as a young cat and my heart goes out to all the animals that need help.

OK…anything else? My list has gotten longer as I’ve been writing. Maybe I do need to make another accordion folding book! If you’re curious, here’s a look. On the front pages I listed those things I wanted to get done. On the back pages, I printed different sayings and quotes that might help motivate me. Like, 12 steps for getting things done, 5 steps for completing a task…”Organization helps keep your goals in focus and you work area and living space orderly, so you will have available the tools you need to accomplish your goals.” “Don’t let time dictate how much you get done. Instead, control your time so you get done what needs to be done.” And there are several others too. Here’s the finished product.



 
To close, I think I will tell you the actual meaning of the word “resolution.” That’s the first thing in my resolution book.

Resolution:
1) Resolving something; the process of resolving something
2) Formal expression of opinion
3) Decision: of mind or purpose
4) Determination; firmness
5) Solution; an answer to a problem
6) Separation into constituent parts: the process or act of separating something such as a chemical compound or a source of light into its constituent parts
7) The disappearance or coming to and end of symptom or condition such as fever or inflammation
8) Satisfactory conclusion of a harmonic pattern; the movement from a dissonant to a consonant chord or note
9) Part of a story when conflict if resolved

Here’s wish you good luck to YOUR resolutions or goals and to a better and prosperous 2011.