Monday, January 2, 2012

2012 -- Beginning A Year with Good Intentions

It has been interesting to see people talking online about New Year resolutions (pro and con) and the approach they intend to take to the New Year. It is a good time to reassess and start fresh, and there is no right or wrong way to do so, just what works (or what you hope will work this year, by golly) for you.

I'm not a resolution kind of girl, myself, but for the last few years I have set a list of goals. Two lists, really; one professional, with my goals for my writing career, and one personal, with my goals for pretty much everything else. (You know, that's the one that says, "Exercise more." Every damn year.)

The goals approach has actually worked pretty well for me, and I've ended up most years with a lot of the items I'd aimed at crossed off the list. (All except that damned "Exercise more." Damn it.) Write another nonfiction book and a novel. Check. Get an agent. Check. Spend less time online and more time writing. Check. Exercise more. Oh, shut up.

But there has been a drawback to this approach--one that actually made me stop and decide to do something different this year. It's not that setting goals wasn't successful; it was. It's that I found myself being SO goal oriented, some important stuff didn't get the attention it should have. Stuff like, you know, PEOPLE. And, um, exercise more. (DAMN IT.)

Also, I was just working too much. Working at what I loved, which is great, but also, just working. I went to four conferences. Gave a bunch of online writing classes (each of them lasting for about 2 1/2 weeks). Wrote another book for Llewellyn. Wrote another novel. Started a bunch of novels that didn't work and beat my head against the wall a lot. (That should count as exercise, right?) Epubbed my first novel. Wrote articles, edited manuscripts for some writing pals and my main critique partner, blogged, networked, and so on. And that's without counting in the day job, and making jewelry on the side.

What I didn't do much of was spend time with family and friends, or relax, or, you know EXERCISE MORE. (Sigh.)

So what does that mean for this year? I'll still have goals. Pretty much the same goals as the last few years: get a fiction book contract, continue to build my writing career, find true love...exer--oh, never mind. But I'm not making a list. I know what the goals are, and I'll keep working at them.

But this year, I'm starting with some Intentions instead. My main intentions for the year are simple: joy and peace. (Well, simple to aim at. We'll see how well I do at attaining them.) But generally, I'm going to try to PUSH less, and GO WITH THE FLOW more. And maybe trust that the universe will bring me what I need/want/aspire to without me having to shout at it quite so loudly. Also, I'm going to exercise more.

Oh, stop laughing.

What are your Intentions for 2012?

8 comments:

  1. Yep. I'm going for contentment. I reached a certain level of that in 2011 but know that I can go deeper. I'm being kinder to myself, and it feels good.
    Hope you achieve joy and peace while exercising more. ; )

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  2. I'm going to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!! Oh, and write a couple of books, walk a lot more and do yoga, too. But I ENJOY all that! :)

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  3. I like both your plans! Being kinder to myself is definitely on the not-list, too :-) And maybe some yoga...

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  4. 2012 is all about taking care of me. I am in my forties now, I don't feel like I am that old but it's about time to make myself a priority. I didn't make resolutions and I kind of have a list. More water, less Dr Pepper, more writing, less worrying, and yeah, more exercising. I tried belly dancing a few years ago and loved it. I think I need more of that. I could use more joy and peace, too. :)

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  5. I plan on starting to do more walking meditations and a friend of mine is going to follow this journey with me. I plan on saying NO to my adult children much more often I am NOT allowing anyone to use me as their doormat anymore and it is going to be a year that I delve deeper into my being a witch, study more, practice more, do more.
    Bright blessings
    Sherry

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  6. Kim--I like belly dancing too, although there are no classes around here that work for me anymore. One of my favorite forms of exercise is dancing along to some Bollywood exercise DVD's I have. Need to dig those out again...

    Sherry--Saying NO is tough, but definitely important. I'm doing a bit more of that myself.

    Great plans! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. "PUSH less and GO WITH THE FLOW more" - I like it. I learned some time ago to stop resisting and go with the flow. This year I'm listening to my heart more.

    I bought Witches Datebook by Llewellyn and I absolutely love your little prayer for guidance. Thank you Deborah, I'm glad we cross our paths, even if we cross them somewhere in cyberspace.

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  8. Me too, Evalina. And I'm glad you liked the prayer for guidance; it was one of my favorites. I had a lot of fun writing for the datebook!

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