End of the year check in – ready for 2018!

I’m working on my list of intentions for 2018, while reviewing my list from 2017, and the task immobilized me as I thought to myself…another year gone just like that!  I can only shake my head, amazed that each year seems to go by more quickly than the year before.

So how did I do with my 2017 intentions? 

When I look at the focus of my 2017 list, which included writing, health, self-care, family and fun, it is apparent that health (mine and Piper’s) and self-care almost completely took over my attention.  My back issues made me look much closer at my health so that I focused more on what could help me heal, which has led to improving my core strength and knowledge about what types of movements and also which types of foods can cause me more pain due to inflammation in my spine.  Physical therapy and restorative yoga have been helpful and while I still have my limitations, I am thankful I’m getting better. 

Family and fun ran a close second, with my son returning home from Hawaii, as well as family trips to Disney World in Florida and Universal Studios in California.  In addition, trips to Vegas, the beach, the zoo, Mt. Rainier, and family get-togethers kept our schedules pretty full.  It has definitely been a busy year with visits to a lot of fun places.

Writing and reading are always part of my day, in one form or another, but I did not accomplish nearly what I had hoped for this year.  I was able to complete the fourth book in the series, but wasn’t able to get it published before the end of this year, as I had hoped.  Which means my young adult novel and another book in the mystery series will have to be my main focus next year once the fourth in the series is finally published.  I dislike that I’m behind where I had hoped to be by this time, but one focus for this year was to learn to let go.  It is what it is, and all I can do is let go of any negative thoughts and move forward from here.

And moving forward I will go.

When I made my list of intentions for this past year, I also made a list of words, in addition to writing and reading that came to me when I thought about the upcoming days of 2017.  Now that I look at it, the list was pretty long, but as I review the past year, I see I was able to focus on most of them at least a few times throughout the year.  My monthly check at the end of April touched on strength and movement, less clutter, being present, finding beauty, creating, reflection, family, travel, and adventure.  My bi-yearly check in shared my thoughts on balance, growth, focus, gratitude, being mindful, dreaming, less chaos, being brave and letting go.  October hit on fun and the need to recharge.  I now notice a few I did not write about; one is laughter, but I can guarantee that item is not missing in my life.  However, there are a few others – less stress, more sleep, forgiveness and contentment – that appear to have missed their debut post this year.

Well, forgiveness is a personal journey, and a work in progress, but isn’t something I will likely ever write about here.  The others, though…less stress, more sleep and contentment, are a reflection of how I react or feel based on what is going on with my life.  Now that I’m preparing for the beginning of 2018, I realize that these particular three will come into play this next year given the fact that I have made a decision that will greatly affect my routine and creative life.  I’m going to have more time to focus on my writing, and because I will no longer be stretching myself thin, I expect it will result in my feeling less stressed (because I do get stressed when I have limited time to focus on writing), and more sleep (because I am less stressed), which will lead to contentment with my days as a writer. 

Big changes will result in big expectations for myself but I am excited to move on to a new year with the knowledge that these changes will pave the way so that I can focus on what I am passionate about, and be able to accomplish more as I live a creative life.  I am so ready for the New Year!

Happy New Year and cheers & best wishes as you close out the year and move on to the next!!