Shall We Call Them Goals?
I have a friend who begins each New Year by making a list of goals then building up a Goal Board with pictures that help him visualize his goals. He’s never told me whether he hangs the board in a conspicuous place in his house or not, but that would certainly assure that he’d remember them through the year. Maybe I’d do better on my resolutions if, instead of hiding my resolutions away on Bud’s Blog, I printed out this post to hang in my office. Maybe it’s a matter of terminology. I found an article on the the Post-Crescent by Darlene Hengels that suggests Don’t make resolutions; set goals instead. She says, I don’t like the term “making a resolution.” I prefer “setting goals.” They’re alike in meaning but “resolution” sounds ominous. You must do what you say you’ll do or you fail. “Setting goals” means plans need to be made to keep moving forward. Your goal may not be achieved in a year, but that doesn’t mean you fail. As long as you continue to work toward your goal, you’ll be doing something positive. Perhaps I’ve been setting goals all these years and calling them resolutions because I never feel like a failure at the end of the year, even when I give myself an F on one of last year’s resolutions. Still, if only for the sake of tradition, here are my Resolutions for 2015:
1. When I start my day well with what I call my morning practice, it goes better. Journaling, prayer, gratitude list and some spiritual reading, I do fairly well at. Meditation not so much. Keep trying to do better.
2. One of the reasons I invented my Inner Curmudgeon here on Bud’s Blog is to give the old fellow a place to vent, a place where readers find him funny. He’s not so funny when he leaks out into my life. I can tell he’s around when I use the term idiot a lot. Work at keeping him inner.
3. My natural tendency in life is to free-run, picking what’s next to-do at a whim and often getting involved in inconsequential tasks when there are important thigs to do. Particularly in a year when I have a new job, I need to be more disciplined, to prioritize, make to-do-lists and (gasp) have a schedule. No fear I’ll over-do it, I promise.
4. Nothing makes me aware I have a soul like listening to music and that soul needs feeding. It is fed by creativity like writing, drawing, painting and lately, photography. My guitar still gently weeps … because I don’t play it. Make time for creativity. Listen to more music, by the way.
5. Read more. Blogs, fiction, non-fiction. Something spiritual on a regular basis. Learning makes me tick.
6. I don’t know whether the state of my mind reflects the clutter around me or vice-versa. It doesn’t matter: Be neater … for my sake and my wife, Muri’s.
7. Be a better friend. Reach out to friends and family more regularly. Try to be more accepting of others differences, see them as endearing peccadilloes if possible. Be of service in the world.
Yes, that’s quite a list. And, of course, I can’t leave off Number One on everyone’s Resolutions … er, Goals … list:
8. Lose weight and get in shape. At my age that doesn’t require marathons, just some more of that elusive discipline. Stretch in the morning, count calories and do some sort of exercise regularly. My FatSecret App really helps.
So, there you go. Call them Goals or call them Resolutions … they are a few of the things I’ll try to do this year. Of course, there a few others, too personal to post out here in the blogosphere. Now, let’s get on with 2015.
Tags: curmudgeonly rants, feeling older, friends, gratitude, New years resolutions, spirituality, writing and blogging
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Older Eyes 
January 1, 2015 at 7:47 pm
The word “Goals” does sound a bit more enticing to me than the hard-nosed “resolutions.” Not that I will apply myself all that well to work on what goals I may have though because one of my goals has often been to quite procrastinating and that seems to be there just because it sounds good. I find I work better when I am under a time pressure -most of the time. But then too, sometimes my procrastination has put me in a pickle of not being able to pick up enough steam to do what I should have been doing arlier -or worse yet, all the time. But my goal, overall, is to remain as positive as I positively can be and to have faith that I can be able to maintain my independence as long as possible -physically as well as financially.
January 2, 2015 at 6:42 am
These are good goals, and worthwhile repeating them year after year.
I was much more non-committal in my resolutions and reading yours, it occurs to me there is one I really want to be more conscious of … being a better friend, reaching out, letting others know they are important to me. Thanks for the reminder and best of luck in finding success in your resolutions!