Happy New Year!

It is finished.

While it wasn’t a perfect year, I mostly tried to complete my 52 mini goals. And that was the point.

Now I can reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and why. I won’t bore you all with a lengthy diary entry for each week, but I’ll share what goals left the biggest impact:

• So who knew my first goal of flossing would be my favorite? Not me. I actually still floss nearly every night before bed. My teeth have never felt better, they feel cleaner, and my morning retainer breath isn’t nearly as bad as it was just over a year ago. I’m proud to say my dentist said the only thing I can do better with my overall dental hygiene is to try harder to get between and around my back teeth, but otherwise my teeth are great! It’s the little things, guys.
• A lot of the morning and bedtime goals didn’t turn out well this year. I think that’s because I already have a pretty set morning and bedtime routine that works for me at this point in my life. I know I’ll reflect on some of these after I graduate college and have a different daily schedule. I did like writing down three good things at the end of each day, starting the day with a jam session, and making my bed each morning right after I wake up. I’ve actually been making my bed here at my parents’ house during my semester break and it’s weird…
• A lot of the food and health related goals sucked because I like to eat and not move.
• I’m disappointed that I didn’t do better on my reading and art goals, so even though I’m not renewing my 52 Things for 2018, I have a reading list that I hope to get through in the next couple of years, and I hope post-grad I’ll be able to take some community art classes so that time is built more solidly into my schedule.
• I really like sitting in silence for 10 minutes and I’m going to keep doing it. Seriously, so relaxing!
• I felt like I actually tried a little harder to connect with others outside of my small circle of people I talk to on a regular basis and it was nice, but still tiring. What really brought my spirits up was when I got an email response from one of the thank you letters I emailed to some past teachers. It was amazing!
• Finally, I feel like a lot of these goals helped me learn about myself and become more aware of what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. I do wish I would have pushed myself to do more things directly related to my faith, but I think these 52 Things definitely opened some doors for me to do so. I know 2018 will hold a lot of these opportunities for me.

I’m really looking forward to continuing to grow this year. I know there’s a lot of change ahead for me since I’m graduating from Grand Valley in April and I’m pursuing some jobs and careers right now. You might see this blog resurface in a few years, but for now, I’m switching to a physical journal and focusing the energy I put into these goals and this blog last year into finishing college.

I hope you all had a fantastic 2017 and have a Happy New Year!

 

 

If you’d like to see the complete list of 52 things I tried accomplishing this year, click here to check out my first blog!

I Don’t Want To Do This Anymore

The title says it all folks.

 

 

 

Just kidding! I’m gonna keep doing my blog and my resolution, but oh my goodness I’m over it. I’m a creature that thrives on patterns and predictability. I thought having one goal each week wouldn’t be too stressful. But it is.

I’ve mostly been feeling this over the summer, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m out of the more predictable school life or because it’s been about seven months of doing this.

I’m hoping that once I get back to school and have my patterns back, my goals will become easier. I know “easy” wasn’t my intention, but I’m not having fun with this anymore. So I need easy and chill.

Anyway, I didn’t do too hot last week with my goal. I started out the week on vacation, so I was moving a bunch then between swimming and kayaking, but I dramatically halted when I returned home. I watched way too much tv and didn’t get up as much except for when I worked at the store. I think I let myself off since I worked three longer shift in a row at the end of the week.

This week is already starting out rough. I hate stretching. I would rather curl up in a ball and roll around than stretch for flexibility.

But I will keep on trying!

 

If you’d like to see the complete list of 52 things I’m accomplishing this year, click here to check out my first blog! For now, here’s what I’ve done and what’s to come in the next few weeks:

Last week: Stand or walk around as much as possible instead of sitting doing nothing.

This week: Do stretches for 10 minutes each day. Work on that flexibility, girl!

Next week: Shower every day. Don’t worry about your hair, but wash your stinky pits girl!