Living in the moment...but looking at the future

I stated on my last post that I wanted to look back at my 2010 wishes to see how I did. So, here it goes:
1) Begin each day with prayer and meditation (not as consistently as I would like but definite improvement! My relationship with God is increasing daily and I LOVE it!)
2) Choose a volunteer program and start volunteering (Mostly accomplished this through my hubby's "Handyman Ministry"- would like to improve this next year)
3) Journal (Definitely improvement! Not perfect but definitely better)
4) Exercise at least 3 days a week (Yes! Woohoo!)
5) Finish a triathlon (YES!!! So proud!)
6) Stop smoking (YES!!! This is the one that I am most proud of!)
7) Pay off all debt except house, then start paying it down (YES! Working toward saving more and paying down the house)
8) Invest more for retirement (Hmmm...not so much!)
9) Take a family ski trip (Yup...and it was a blast! Thanks sis for the use of your cabin!)
10) Take a family trip to Costa Rica (We are leaving on December 29th until January 6th- SO EXCITED!)
11) Be kinder (I definitely believe that I have improved a lot here)
12) Think more positively (Most days!)
13) Take more weekends trips alone with my hubby (We took 4 weekend getaways alone! Yay, us!)
14) Stop procrastinating (Truthfully, not much improvement here...maybe next year)
15) Maintain balance in all aspects of my life (ABSOLUTELY!!! Now, I crave more family time)
16) Take a Zumba class (Not yet...but I still have 24 days left in the year
17) Sign up for Spanish lessons (Uhhhh...no beuno)
18) Declutter my life (Hmmm...somewhat...I'll add this to next year also)
19) Stay on a budget (Better, much better)
20) Perform one random act of kindness a day (I did really poorly on this one! Maybe next year?)

So there it is! I think that I will give myself an A- because the ones that I did accomplish are HUGE! I think 20 wishes are too many. I need to narrow it down for next year. In general,though, I am pretty darn proud of myself!

Now...looking at 2011...we have created a challenge for ourselves that I am so very excited about. We have named it the "Charity Challenge of 2011". Basically, we (hubby and I) are competing in one race event for each month of 2011 AND raising money for a charity throughout the year. I am so excited!!! We already have our preliminary schedules ready. We have been praying about the charity for a couple of weeks because we REALLY wanted God to guide us on this. We have considered numerous charities. Finally, we feel that God has lead us to FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). We asked God to send us signs for discernment. We got many signs leading us to this organization. We feel that it is a way to give back to our immediate community. Also, we are doing an athletic challenge so it seems to make sense that we would support a Christian athletic charity. It just "feels" right...and that feels like discernment to me! Please continue to pray that we are listening to God's guidance.

(I thought that I would attach a copy of my preliminary schedule.)

You really can't fix stupid!

Hmmmm...bet you thought that I was going to break Wish #12. Today was definitely a challenge. It's tough when you are truly trying to come from a helping heart with others and they just aren't 'getting it'. And, that's were I was today! I got to a point where I was nothing more than purely frustrated. Then I thought about my big plan for 2010 and my wishes. How could I turn this around to something positive? It's definitely something from which I can learn so that's a start. What could I do differently next time? Where did things go wrong? Sometimes it difficult to take a long, hard look at your own responsibility in situations. Today I did that. I was able to take a few great lessons away from the difficulties of the day. Lesson #1- Listen more...speak less, Lesson #2- Set expectations up front, Lesson #3-Sometimes we have to verbalize our intentions for people to understand where our heart is. These lessons can help me to make the changes that I am wanting for my life this year. I am loving my wishes. Just having them caused me to stop sitting in the negative and decide how I could turn this into something positive.

2010 HERE I AM!

I have decided that 2010 is going to be the "year for change"! Instead of doing the traditional resolutions, I am calling them wishes. Why wishes? Well, a wish is just that...a wish! If I don't complete it by the end of the year, I don't feel like I have failed. Plus, wish sounds happier. So, here are some of my wishes for 2010:

1) Begin each day with prayer and meditation
2) Choose a volunteer program and start volunteering
3) Journal
4) Exercise at least 3 days a week
5) Finish a triathalon
6) Stop smoking
7) Pay off all debt except house, then start paying it down
8) Invest more for retirement
9) Take a family ski trip
10) Take a family trip to Costa Rica
11) Be kinder
12) Think more positively
13) Take more weekends trips alone with my hubby
14) Stop procrastinating
15) Maintain balance in all aspects of my life
16) Take a Zumba class
17) Sign up for Spanish lessons
18) Declutter my life
19) Stay on a budget
20) Perform one random act of kindness a day

I am hoping that this blog keeps me motivated, on track, and accountable. Should be an interesting year!