I don’t much care for the term ‘resolutions’.  To me that word that implies that something is either wrong or needs to be fixed about a particular situation, circumstance, or in the case of ‘New Year’s Resolutions’, myself.   All told: I am  happy and proud of who I am. I make mostly good decisions, while learning from those gone wrong.  I conduct my actions with kindness and compassion, while embracing my mistakes and regrets, and I operate and teach my kids in the belief that practice does not make for perfection, but that it instead makes for progress.  So, no, I don’t have resolutions to make because I do not believe I need ‘fixing’.  That’s not to suggest, however, that I don’t believe in growth, achievements, and goals, and by setting ‘goals’ instead of resolutions this time of year, I feel it gives me a greater sense of pride and focus on the  things I want to achieve through perseverance, and pushing myself in new and sometimes uncomfortable ways.  Thinking this way, for me anyway, shifts my mindset away from “Here are the areas about myself that make me unhappy” to “Here are the ways in which I want to continue learning, growing and evolving.”

It has been just about a year since I started this blog and looking back to when it began, I have, for the most part, been loyal in keeping up my initial goal of one post per week.  Ranging from topics of family, food, creative challenges, and random thoughts, I have tried my best to stretch my abilities in written word.  I am proud to have kept it up, and I have every intention to keep going.  But this blog was just one of many goals that I recall setting out for myself, and so, given it is the end of the year, I thought I would use this opportunity to reflect back on what was, while looking forward to what will be.

Last Year’s Achievements

• Publish a Blog – check!
• Publish a book – check!
• Get a Tattoo – check…twice!
• Go geo-caching – completely forgot about that one
• Go to at least ten new hiking spots – check!
• Go to a Jays game with the kids – check!
• Make ice cream with the kids – check!
• Commit to a regular physical exercise routine – I did great until I dislocated my shoulder in an epic and triumphant diving catch playing ultimate Frisbee that won us the World championships!*
• Enjoy the things I enjoy –  my goal here was to take in more movies, guitar and video games and shed the guilt that I feel when doing these things.  I admit this did not all go as planned for me, for a few very good reasons.

1. 1. Movies – I am at an age where I fall asleep in movies, no matter what time I start them. So, while I tried hard to achieve this, my body said no.
   2. Video games – they started and stopped with Just Dance 2022.  I guess that counts, but it wasn’t entirely what I had in mind.
   3. Guitar – I didn’t play every week as I intended, but I got to have a few cool jam sessions throughout the year, and the kids played along.  Perhaps the highlight of it all, however, was getting the kids to engage in singing Here Comes the Sun with me; for that reason alone I am checking this box a success
   4. Guilt – to call this a work in progress for me is an understatement.  I have a long way to go, but I am trying.

*Truth told: I tripped over my own feet playing in a Wednesday night local pickup game behind the school.  I didn’t catch the disc, and I am not sure if I was even part of the play at the time it happened.

This Year’s Goals

Another Tattoo

I have come to appreciate the daily reminder they give me to enjoy the little things in life and they’ve become somewhat of a conversation piece.

Write Another Book of a Different Nature

I would love to say that I’ll publish another book this year but that may be a stretch.  Instead I am going to say that I’ll have written at least one more, which is going to be different in nature than Imagine That! and geared more towards parents and kids at heart.  Sarah and I have kicked around ideas for another children’s story, and that will come soon too, but I’ve got something else in mind that I’m equally excited to tackle…

Writer’s Festival

I will take part in at least one writers’ festival this year, preferably the Centre Wellington event, should they choose to host it again.

Therapy

I will explore and attend CBT as a means of further developing strategies on ruminating thoughts, anxiety and stress.  Our society focuses a great deal of energy on the physical side of our bodies and the importance for exercise for our general well-being, but why should the mind be any different?  Like any program that stretches, exercises and teaches us about our bodies, there are many benefits to various forms of therapy, and I am looking forward to engaging in some beneficial techniques for my own personal development.

Date Night

At least once a month – we will wine and dine,  dance and sing, ski and spa, take pottery classes, go to yoga in the park,  or take in a musical in the big city.  Time with our kids is precious and amazing but so too is the time in which we get to be adults and do the one thing we never get to do when the little ones are around; which, of course, is to walk to a destination with constant forward momentum at a consistent pace without carrying a bag full of snacks or having to take a pee break.

Magic Tricks

I will learn at least 10 new magic tricks.  Magic is awesome.

That seems a good place to park for now.  I am sure there will be other items added as the months move forward, but I am excited to tackle these as a starting point.  So bring it on 2023, I am ready to embrace the challenges that lay ahead and I look forward to reflecting back a year from now on what was achieved, learned, gained, lost, missed and added.

Happy New Year everyone.