For whatever reason, it feels like the end of the year snuck up on me. We were moving slowly towards Thanksgiving, then- BAM!- here it is, New Year’s Eve, and I’m not remotely prepared.
I looked back, just now, at the goals I’d set for myself in the last several years. I found everything from a one-word focus on health to a since-forgotten 2021 goal of 365 Peloton rides in 365 days (what on earth was I thinking?!!), and none of it did a thing to inspire me to look forward to 2025.
Now, sure, I’ve set goals for the new year… there is a list of 9 to-do’s saved on my phone that really do need to happen, but they’re not what I would call Resolutions. They’re a to-do list. Some of it is a to-don’t list, to be honest. But- there’s really nothing written there, scribbled in my notebook, or swimming around my head that makes me excited to get out of bed in the morning and get it done.
I’m wondering if I just waited too long to resolve, and now I just need to focus on making tomorrow’s New Year dinner.
The years that I’ve felt as if I’ve accomplished the most have been the years that I’ve made myself focus on one word or thought that could be a billowy, encompassing thing. Words like “health,” “complete,” or “enough” have gotten me through so many years. Perhaps that’s where my focus needs to be; one word that sets in place everything I have on this little to-do list in front of me. When I look at it, the only word I can think of that covers them all is Responsibility.
Responsibility. Maybe that’s it. The mid-40’s adult-minded thing that we all should aspire to be driven by.
For now, I’ll settle on that. And, rather than that weird, forgotten Peloton goal, this one will be placed where I can see it- the top of my laptop, staring me in the face, guiding every purchase I make, purchase I don’t, every decision to get up and go for a walk or go the gym. Responsible with the way I treat myself, my house, nature, and the bigger picture. It can be taken from something daunting into something positive.
Responsibility. I like it.
** photo by Don Lehman **
