Habits & Goals: 2011

by sarahmfry, January 06, 2011
What a strange and wonderful morning.  Light didn't break until well after 8:00.  Caiden is sick with flu and still sleeping.  Corin went down for his morning nap around 8:30.  It's quiet, peaceful & foggy.  I've been waiting for some time to just sit.  Think.  Reflect.  Dream and plan of the fresh slate ahead.  It's a happy thing for me.  I don't hate New Year's Resolutions.  I think of them as habits.  And that's a good thing. 

Someone said last night in church..."Make good habits.  They're as hard to break as bad ones."  Oh yeah, baby.  Good habits are good.  They bring hope.  For instance, I have a tendency towards tardiness.  I don't like it, and I don't like to be made fun of about it.  But..I have been thinking and watching myself and I have zoned in on what causes that bad habit. And I know how to fix it.  All it takes now is chipping away at it every day.  And so there is hope.  I am not stuck with the things I don't like.  I have power.  Power to change and grow and be better.  That is one of the most amazing lessons I learned in 2010.  Lifechanging.

So I sat down and started writing.  I thought it would be more paragraph-y.  Long discourses and thoughts and steps and reasonings.  Maybe I'll do that later.  That kind of blathering keeps me focused and motivated and inspired.  But for today, this is the list that zoomed from my heart to the keys.

The exciting thing for me is, this list is just full of hope.  It isn't an unrealistic list of rules I just conjured up for myself that will disappear by February.  It's a fresh typing on a fresh sheet, but they are things I have been working on already....developing, learning, failing, getting back up, analyzing, trying, succeeding.  Blood, Sweat and Tears!!  Well....Lots of sweat and tears, hardly any blood, really.

Some of them are well-established habits that I added to the list because I am eager to maintain.  Some of them are soft-boiled habits.  They've been coming along, but need some solid pant-kickings.  Some of them can't be called a habit yet, but they have been brewing in my heart.  I care very much, but just need to make them daily.  And a couple of them I'm doing, but if they don't end up being habits I won't get my bloomers in a bunch. (Who wants to stress over a reading schedule, really?  Been there, done that in college and grad school.  Now I read cuz I want to.)


2011

Habits to Maintain, Develop, & Improve


Look for daily beauty. Capture moments.
Write it down. Come and see!
Photo:  The Snake River in Hell's Canyon, Idaho

Don’t be late. Start earlier. Get there early. Plan ahead.

Photo:  Caiden's at-home Preschool Fun


Be happy.  Be content.  Be present.  Choices, all....So Choose.
Photo:  Swinging in Aunt Nancy's Yard (Ash Grove, Missouri) the week Grandma went to Heaven.

Worship daily. Pray. Read. Study. Meditate. Memorize. Listen. Look.

Photo:  Sunset from our front yard.


Do my part in my marriage. Don’t gripe. Give more unconditional grace (he is a man, after all!).

Photo:  Summer family fun at Indiana Beach


Organized home that we all love. Daily Double. Zones. Projects. Maximize Mornings. Just do it.

Photo:  Grandma's fireplace - now at the center of our home


Simplify. Keep saying no.....To clutter, stress, worry,
& over scheduling.  Sarah loves MARGIN!

Photo:  Just a normal old day.  Made better by candlelight.


Run! Keep running & racing.
            April 30, 2011: 13.1
                  June 11, 2011:   26.2 (?!)
Photo:  Indianapolis 5K in October - our 5th race together.


Be healthy. Eat God’s food. Eat Chocolate
Pay lots of money to Weight Watchers so I won't give up.
Track. Every. Day. – reach goal weight. Celebrate!

Photos:  Some of God's best food and me after our first 10K on Thanksgiving Day

Read a book a month. (Or just read...no worries.)

Photo:  Corin enjoying our first snow celebration 2010 - Blizzards at DQ!


Practice 15 minutes every day right after practicing with kids.
(Or not)

Photo:  Playing for Dad's last Messiah performance at GBS....

So there they are - in no particular order and the list will probably morph as the year progresses.  But here's to today.

I wish you blessings and peace and happy habits this year! 

I have some things that seriously need a lot of hard-working consistency this year.  But I am excited. And I have hope.

 I pray that the true essence of holiness - being set apart completely for Him - will grow in me.  I want not to work myself lifeless and shriveled trying to prove something, but to surrender to His daily reminders that bring such joy in the end.  I want to remember that it's not about my ability to DO - to produce or prove anything in His kingdom.  But to BE - all His.  As happy and beautiful and surrendered and organized and whatever else as He can make me. 

He's sure got His work cut out.  Good thing He's God.

SHARE

Add your comment

© This Beautiful Grace · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS