Looking Ahead to 2015: Enjoying the Journey

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I'm a planner and a list maker and a lover of checking things off. So setting goals for the new year comes easily to me. I like to reflect on the past (and do a bit of checking off) and look ahead to the future. Thinking back on the ways I've fallen short or dropped the ball in the past year makes me want to change and setting goals is like having a bit of a road map to make those changes. But sometimes I get so wrapped up in the goal I forget to engage in the journey, like a hiker who only keeps his eye on the summit and doesn't stop to take in the views along the way.

This year I have still set a few goals, I usually make them according to different areas of my life: personal, motherhood, marriage, homeschooling, running, blog and business. I have a quite a list for each: a destination I'd like to reach by the time 2016 rolls around. But this year the overarching goal is to be present in the moment on the way to where I want to be. So often I'm present in body but not in mind; I'm thinking of what there is to do instead of taking the opportunity to just be.

I think being present is a discipline that must be cultivated, here are a few ways I hope to move in the direction of being more present:

Journal. For years I kept a journal religiously. Every morning I'd reflect and write about my most internal thoughts, desires, fears and dreams. I have box in the basement that is filled with hand lettered pages that chronicle my life and thoughts every day from 1998 until 2009. I stopped journaling regularly five years ago, shortly after my daughter was born. Perhaps it was the change of adding a newborn baby to the mix but for some reason I got out of the habit. I think returning to it will help me be less in a rush to do and more available to be.

Play. I don't really play. Even with my kids. Even if I'm sitting on the floor with them I'm folding laundry or putting books back in a bookshelf or picking up puzzle pieces or organizing trucks. I don't ever just play. It's a rare occasion when I get absorbed in playing with my kids. Probably because I don't see the value in it--I know that sounds terrible-- all I can think about is the things I'm not getting 'done' because I'm playing. My daily agenda is not that important, but the relationship I cultivate with my kids by playing with them is.  The same could be said of my running: there are occasions where running has felt like play, when I have no expectations for the outcome. And that is when it is most enjoyable. Letting go of my expectations for what I get done in a day or what I accomplish in running is the key to being more present.

Say No. One of the reasons I feel so driven by daily tasks is that I say "yes" to too many things. Often times I volunteer myself or take on unnecessary responsibility because it seems like a good idea or I see that there is a need and feel the burden to fill it. Releasing myself from the obligation to say "yes" will simplify my life and reduce the "chatter" that often clouds my mind when I'm juggling too many things.

And even as I pursue the goal of being more present it is not the outcome that will show that I've changed, it is the journey that will transform me.

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What are you looking ahead to in 2015? What action steps will get you there?

Sarah

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