Photo Credit: Ulet Ifansasti, Getty Images
Found on the New York Times newsletter
A wonderful last day of 2018!!
I enjoyed a lovely few moments standing next to a tree at Lake Washington with Mount Rainier to my right and a beautiful red/orange sunset to my left.
One of these days I'll insert a photo of it. I was late getting to Medina Beach so I caught the tail end of the sunset.
Since I was standing in the air, on the ground, next to a tree, listening to the water - I took a moment to thank the Earth for all of it. What a gift our planet is!!!
And I thanked 2018. My plan for this year was that I would CHOOSE TO CHECK! In last year's 'end of the year' blog post, I implied I'd do something digital.
That didn't last. I couldn't find one that gave me what I need.
This year, I experimented with lots of different methods to remember my past, organize the present, and plan for the future. Every few weeks I would tweak it all over again.
Bullet Journal? Composition Notebook? Handwritten every day? Templates for each day?
I have too much fun creating new versions of my Daily/Weekly booklet every few weeks!
For that reason, I'm committing to my current version for the entire month of January.
I've spent time thinking about how I want to spend 2019. Although I had an evolving checklist system in 2018, there wasn't anything in the system that held me accountable. If I'm obligated to someone else, I will get it done (after procrastinating), but if it's just me and making my life better - no such obligation and I don't do it. I had a space for exercise, but skipped over it all the time. Same with spiritual reading and meditation.
So, this year my theme is ACCOUNTABILITY.
Nothing magic happened to make me more accountable. I don't have a plan for how to do it, except to do it.
Right now, it's after 8 and my evening routine starts at 8:00p Who will hold me accountable for not doing it? Nobody. It's a special day, so it's important I get this blog post completed. I had it on my schedule for 7 - 8, but clearly it took me longer. That's my other challenge - estimating time.
It will be another challenging, but exhilarating year for me!!! Yay!
In the spirit of ending the year on a high note - I'll hold myself accountable and start my evening routine.
I'll say quickly, though, this year I learned a LOT about myself and how I handle things. One of these days, I'll review my writing over the last year to get a summary of all the 'insights' I had.
Also, I started UW in Fall Quarter. Not something I expected I'd be doing in 2018 at all, though I guess the seeds had been planted in various ways. Taking the class was another way for me to learn about myself. I think I'll become a better writer because I'm in school. It was a huge accomplishment to get into the degree program.
The key to 2018 has been reflection and Morning Pages. I'll continue using those tools in 2019 to make improvements and understand how/why it's important to be accountable to me.
My goals for the year are in my Worksheets for Life document.
More on all of this at another time. Right now...I wish you a Happy New Year!!!!
