Friday, December 31, 2010

The year two thousand eleven

It is almost 2011, which, according to the progressive rock band, Rush, means that we are only 101 years away from assuming control over the planets of the Solar Federation.

It is also the year of the run-on sentence, as evidenced by the previous lines.

At the end of January I christened 2010 "the year of new adventures," and I believe that it lived up to its name.

Here's a quick view of the major happenings from the year gone by:
  • Learned to rock climb
  • Bought a car
  • Took a trip to New York
  • Completed my first Triathlon
  • Quit my job
  • Started the Bomber Betties Longboarding Club
  • Longboarded 40 miles from Spokane to Cd'A
  • Had my first solo art show
  • Wrote a novel
  • Began teaching at ITT
2011 will have its fair share of adventures, to be sure. But I'd like to take a different approach to the coming year than I have in the past. I'd like to actually make some long term plans...and possibly even follow through on those plans...

2010 was a bit like running into traffic after anything that looked shiny.

This is an actual picture of me. I look good in black, don't you think?


2011 will be the year of goals and goal attainment. I will make a list of major things I'd like to accomplish over the next 12 months and work through them like a kind of list-checking-off professional of some sort. Yeah.

For the most part, these goals should be things that will be difficult for me, but I'm going to throw a few easy ones in there too just to keep my spirits up. There will be more to add, but this is my starting list:
  • Run another half marathon
  • Take a cross country road trip
  • Complete an Olympic distance triathlon (my first was a sprint distance)
  • Pay off my car (early)
  • Run the Spokane Marathon in October (the full marathon)
  • Get published
  • Read at least 10 books from the banned books list
  • Dine out once a week or less (unless someone else is paying, haha)
  • Make a will (I've been talking about this for years but have yet to do it)
I realize that setting lofty goals is a common activity for anyone celebrating New Years. But to be perfectly honest, I've never been one to make resolutions. I've never said, "this is the year I lose 20 pounds," or "this is the year I quit smoking," or eating chocolate, or slacking off, or whatever.

And that's not because I think resolutions are a waste of time, because I don't. Any effort you take to step back and look at what you're doing is not a waste. It's just that I don't normally wait for the calendar to roll over to decide that something needs to happen. I'm impatient like that.

This year is different. It just so happens that the traditional time of reflection has arrived at the station at the exact same time as my mental train. Things are in flux, whether that's for good or bad is beside the point. The point is that now is the time to take stock and move forward in the direction of my choosing.

I know where I've been, and hopefully, through setting goals, I'll also have a general idea of where I'm headed.

Looking back and looking forward at the same time is what January is all about. "The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new." --goalsguy.com


Less than 24 hours are left til the commencement of my goal attainment efforts, better eat all the chocolate and smoke all the cigarettes that I can right now! :-D

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You smoke, Selina? Hells yeah! Lol, 1 year for me now and I need to freaking quit, dammit. Have an awesome New Year.

greg said...

Good goals for the new year...good picture of you!!