Trina’s New Year’s Resolutions

People’s feelings on New Year’s Resolutions vary. Some people think they are dumb, some make them religiously every January and forget about them by February. I am a list maker, and believe writing down personal goals is a big step toward accomplishing them, so I do make New Year’s Resolutions (or, N.Y.R.’s) most years. You may or may not, but I thought I would encourage or inspire you toward pressing toward some personal goals yourself this year by sharing mine.

For people who don’t like N.Y.R.’s, you may think of these things as stuff I have been wanting to get around to and am free to work on now that the business of the Holidays are over.

I have goals in different areas of my life, and have organized them (I love organizing as much as I love list-making, so I usually have very organized lists!) I have also reported the progress I have made so far. It is important to break down large goals into manageable bites. Even in the few days of this year I have managed to take a few bites into my goals, and it is important to celebrate those!

Goals in the Kitchen
1. Learn to make Kefir, an ancient, fermented ‘drink’ made from milk (much like yogurt), with many beneficial nutrients. I will use it for soaking grains and cooking.
Progress Report: Kefir requires starter, which you can mail order, or get from a friend. I made some phone calls yesterday and found a good lead on getting some grains from a supplier an hour North of us.

2. Learn how to make Sprouted Wheat or Bulgar Flour. Wheat which has been sprouted and dried again before grinding is more easily digested and contains many more nutrients.
Progress Report: I set my first grain to sprout yesterday!

Literary Goals
1. Read Paradise Lost, by John Milton. Several people I respect have told me in the last year that this is a must-read for me. Considering the size and depth of the book, I am making this a year-long goal, similar to when I vowed to read Les Miserables (which took 8 months!). I also have a stack of books to read – ones I own and haven’t read yet that I hope to get to in the winter months. Despite my personal reading time shrinking significantly since marriage and motherhood, I still maintain the life long-goal of being a reader of good books.

2. Keep a Literary Journal. I have been meaning to do this for years and years. I have read so many books, but have no record of any but the ones I own…I want to be able to flip through and remember title, author, and what I liked and disliked about a book. This is mostly for the benefit of my future children, who I hope are voracious readers like me. It can be a challenge to keep up with the appetite of a 12-year-old bookworm, but this would be a resource to assist in that.
Progress Report: The darling mini-composition book my friend Alyssa gave me will be perfect for this, and I have already made my first entry this year!

Physical Goals
1. Maintain Good Posture. I have struggled with good posture for years, even after being in ballet as a young girl (you’d have thought that would have done it). This year I have really committed to changing my habitually bad posture for the better.
Progress Report: I am sitting straight at my computer as I type – are you?

2. Get more Exercise. I have some leg exercises that have really helped my knee pain, and I just need to buckle down and make them a part of my daily routine, especially if I want to enjoy the ski slopes this year. Also, I need to get outside as much as the cold permits and take deep breaths while I’m at it. Living on the Homestead we never had to worry about getting enough exercise, so I am still getting used to the fact that you have to plan and make time for that to happen in a more normal lifestyle.
Progress Report: As soon as I finish typing this I’m gonna take a brisk walk to the freezer room up the driveway and take deep breaths as I fetch something for dinner! Also, I am going to call Alyssa and see if she wants to go cross-country skiing before our snow melts in a day or two….

Goals in the Studio
1. Complete Jesse’s First Year Album.
Progress Report: I did two pages last week, and got the refill pages I needed in the mail just yesterday. (I’ll be sharing photos of this project soon!)
2. Finish my Seven Year Sweater. So named because I started it when I was 18, and at the rate of progress I made in the first months of the project, I estimated it would take me seven years. It is now the seventh year, and I still have the sleeves to do!
Progress Report: I got it out of the studio closet yesterday and did three rows. Figuring out where I left off in the pattern was the tricky part.

So, those are my goals for this year. Some of them I may accomplish within a month – which won’t be such a bad thing. I have learned not to be overly ambitions in this season of my life, as you never know what can happen, and lists can be depressing at those times. For instance, when I was creating this list last week, I had no idea I’d be moving in the next month. Things I thought I’d be able to cross off by the end of January may get postponed completely till…who knows when. But when I do have a spare minute, my goal sheet reminds me what to do with it!

What are some of your goals? Have I inspired you to make some N.Y.R.’s? If so, post them on your blog and share the link. Or, if you don’t believe in them, you may post your opinion here. But it would take a lot to talk me out of this tradition…