Twenty-Thirteen was my year to Listen. My goal was to listen to my kids more. To my husband more. Not to multi-task, but to really listen. On this front, I feel I still need a lot more work. I can do better here. I want to do better here, still.
But then there were more layers to my word:
Listen to myself: My body, my soul, my heart, my brain/thoughts, and my gut I did a lot of this. I listened to my gut. I took bold, scary moves listening to my heart.
Listen to others: be open, stop and hear as opposed to preparing a reply, choosing to receive In this area, I feel I could have done better. I still talk more than I listen. I still want to change this.
Listen to the universe: Pay attention and see the signs, listen to messages, listen to what the universe is whispering, the sounds of nature
I did a lot of this. The universe sent me messages and i responded.
Overall, this was a big year with lot of changes. I can’t seem to remember the early months but I made a lot of changes starting in April and more so in the fall, and the biggest one in November (my job.) So far, they’ve all been changes for the positive and I am so very grateful I listened to the universe. This was a great year to pick listen as my word. I am deeply grateful for it.
As I do each year, I’d set some specific goals for 2014, here’s what they were and how I did on each:
Family
1. Have Nathaniel read one book to me each week (Project Nathaniel Reads to Mommy). This worked out wonderfully.
2. Take photo of full-family and write updates weekly (Project Weekly Diary). We took the photos very regularly. However, I stopped doing weekly updates after the summer. Not sure why. I’d like to do better next year.
3. Write weekly gratitudes and celebrations for me and the boys (The Savor Project) This, too, needed more attention in the second half of the year but at least I did use all the photos.
4. Take online classes with David and focus on learning (Project Learning with David) Not such a big success.
5. Spend an hour with each kid a week on mommy-me time. Just me and the one boy. Didn’t really do this one. One to carry over to 2015.
6. Volunteer in both David and Nathaniel’s schools oh yes, a lot of this.
7. Schedule minimum bimonthly date nights with Jake I’d say we didn’t do this. We did have some but not 24.
8. Capture and Tell our family stories (The Savor Project) meh. semi good at this.
9. Visit my family and Jake’s family we did this.
Health
1. Continue walking/running daily, work your way back up to 5K a day uhm not so much. I did try to keep active all year. But this needs A LOT more work.
2. Find three strength exercises that I can do regularly not so much here either. though I did the 7-minute exercise for all of the 8 weeks of WLC
3. Work your way up to eating whole foods 80% of the time briefly did this one but really one to carry to 2015
4. Get minimum 7 hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends did pretty well on this one. i cherish my sleep.
5. Take weekly hikes with family we so didn’t do this. maybe 1-2 hikes this whole year.
Serene
1. Read a book a week (Project A Book a Week) – oh yes, many more.
2. Journal daily. (Project Today I Know, Project Remember This) I did those two projects but didn’t journal daily. I’d like to have. I still want to do more. Each time I did journal regularly, it was profoundly impactful.
3. Spend time stitching (Project Stitching Circles) semi successful
4. Set weekly intentions around listening (Project Listen with Intent) set intentions but didn’t really follow them
5. Experiment with meditation, yoga, breathing yeah. uhm. did none of these.
6. Go camping we did. once.
7. Take a walk with Nathaniel for 15 minutes a day (this could also be health or family) nope. didn’t really do this one.
Grace
1. Make and keep regular pedicure and hair appointments (every 6 weeks or so) yey did this. at least for my hair.
2. Find a volunteer opportunity for David and me. failed miserably here. want to make sure i do it for 2015.
3. Send one kind email to someone each week definitely didn’t do this one.
4. Have and end-of-day ritual each night and a welcoming-the-day ritual each morning didn’t do this. i briefly lit candles but for the most part, i had no established routine. i still want to do this.
5. Clean up closet and only keep what fits yea. didn’t do this one.
6. Come up with a self-care routine (lotion, floss, etc.) hoping to do this for 2015.
Engaged
1. Learn to do lettering (Project Listen with Intent) done. yey.
2. Take at least 6 online classes that are not art did not do this. i took a bunch of art ones but not much else. only one non-art one, i think.
3. Teach Nathaniel to Read done and done!
4. Tell the longer stories when scrapping i did this too. love my pages from this year.
5. Take classes with David all year long we took only one. we tried three others.
6. Practice doodling, drawing (Project Today I Know) i have finally come to terms with the fact that doodling is not my thing. I did do a lot of drawing.
7. Learn new art techniques (Project Remember This) a lot of fun new things thanks to life book.
8. Experiment with new art mediums i did do this. a bit. not a lot. but still…
9. Continue to coach clients and offer more options i am continuing this. loving every moment of it.
Whole
1. Create a new Savor Project for 2014 (The Savor Project) done
2. Go out to breakfast/lunch once a week with a good friend (or a potential good friend). If not possible, call/email a friend to reconnect. i did some of this. not as much as i intended to.
3. Extend an invitation to someone new once a month wasn’t so organized with this.
4. Speak up more and participate more yes. did this.
5. Attend all book clubs attended all but the december one due to my trip to zurich.
6. Journal daily (Project Today I Know, Project Remember This) nope
7. Regularly attend all three book clubs hmm same as #5, one went defunct. attended the other two regularly
8. Drive on the freeway more regularly yes!
9. Learn to ride a bike (it will happen one of these days!) no!
Here’s how my Core Desired Words worked out:
Serene I regularly got up early, took time for myself and to exercise. I did art almost every morning. I got a lot of sleep. But I didn’t set a night routine. I think I did better with the panic but I still feel like this is an area I want to improve. I want to slow down more. I want to listen to more Tara Brach and use the Four Questions. Get much less reactive.
Grace I’ve been making progress on wearing what I like. I am thankful and show my gratitude. I volunteer more. And yet. I am not as patient as I would like. I want to be kinder. I want to talk less, listen more.
Engaged I’ve been a lot more engaged. I show up. I step up. I have been participating. I’ve been choosing curiosity more often than not. Practicing art, too. But I still want to learn more about what makes me feel engaged in life.
Whole I want to bring back the practice of celebrating. I’ve been doing better at cultivating belonging and showing up and reaching out. But I am not as kind to myself as I could be. I want to do more here.
So here we are. This has been a very impactful, surprising and joyful year. I learned a lot. I am deeply deeply grateful. With all this, I am ready to put 2014 to bed.
Thank you, 2014.
Leave a Reply