Glancing Backward, Reaching Forward

It’s been a year.

Here we are, days from starting a new year. This week is my week to decide what I want my next year to look like. I love New Years Resolutions (though they tend to look more like a checklist…). Last year, I didn’t make any, which was good, because the year held more than I could have possibly imagined anyway. This time, I will start a year in an in between time. Between jobs, just finished with school and wondering what is next, at the tip of new friendships while still longing for the old ones. It is a good place to begin again, a good place to rethink where I am headed and decide how I want it to look.

But first, let’s look back.

This year I quit an insanely stressful job. I got a job I loved. I had to quit that job to make room for school. I moved twice. I was a student teacher. I graduated from college. I planned a wedding. I got married. (!!!) I switched churches. I turned 25.

And that was just the big stuff.

I also read an insane amount of books (I will post about that another time), watched a few good movies and a couple of meh ones, and drank gallons of tea. Oh, and don’t forget going off gluten for a while to see if I had an allergy (I don’t), attending a bunch of other weddings, and redoing my entire wardrobe.

IT WAS A FULL YEAR GUYS.

No wonder all I want to do is sleep. Though that might have more to do with the persistent clouds (just snow already!) and the cold I am getting over.

Now I have to ask myself, what do I want the next year to look like? A little calmer maybe? (Hah!) I want my next year to be healthier.

Healthier eating, spending habits, personal habits, and productive cycles. It is too easy for me to go all in for a short amount of time, and then fall off. Like being uber productive for a few hours and then spending the rest of the day looking at my phone. Or spending no money for a couple of weeks and then all the money in one day.

I crave balance in my life. Balance in my schedule, eating habits, and how I spend money.

So I spent some time coming up with specific goals (’cause we all know what happens when our goal is just, ‘be healthy’), looking at what I want and what it would take to get there.

Here are a few of my goals for the new year.

Do a Minimalist challenge. Weddings tend to bring stuff with them, as does combining two lives. We are mostly clutter free, but I want to get to the point that I can open all my closets without shuddering. At the moment I am doing research into what challenge I want to undertake and how long I want this challenge to be.

Eat healthier. To attain this goal I will clean out my pantry and search through my fridge for leftover Christmas goodies, and find healthy cookbooks because my healthy meal ideas are kinda limited…

Write more. My goal is to start blogging twice a week instead of once. I also want to keep up with my story on Wattpad better. Which means, ya know, writing more than once a month..? I won’t be a better writer until I practice, and if I want to be better, I need to practice. End of story.

Do I have other goals? You bet. In fact I may have over done it just a tad bit this year. Maybe I am making up for last year. Who knows.

However, my overarching goal is that these become habits, not just challenges. I want a habit of being minimalist, and a habit of being a productive writer. Change becomes permanent when it becomes a lifestyle.

Shaina Merrick