Big Picture (25 in 25) Simple Goals (a.k.a. #DoSomething)

I was recently chatting with a friend and we were discussing goals and goal setting, as well as just making time to look back and appreciate what we accomplished last year and how far we've come. As an INTJ, there is something so satisfying about making lists and setting goals. It's not about trying to prove something to the world, it's just setting the bar higher for myself, because, as I have been known to say for years now, "There is always room for improvement." Not only do I set the bar high for those around me (I don't expect perfection, but I do expect you to try), but I hold myself to the same standard of not just staying in my comfort zone, but constantly learning something new. 

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Around October of last year, shortly after Hurricane Helene wrecked havoc in the mountains of eastern TN and western NC, my motto became, "Do Something." It didn't matter if it was big or small, if it only affected me or if it involved the whole family, I no longer wanted to assume that tomorrow was a guarantee. As a Christian, I have always known and quoted the verses in James 4... 

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

But having the reality of this literally fall into my backyard, to see people's lives uprooted, homes destroyed, roads washed away, dreams shattered, was a real wake-up call to stop putting off the things that I wanted to do "some day" and to start making them happen now. Maybe it wouldn't be perfect, and that's okay. Maybe it would cost money, but I was going to spend that money on something anyway. Maybe it was inconvenient or it would cause me to get out of my comfort zone, but putting everything off for a time when convenience was king would just leave me a year older with more regrets that I didn't take advantage of the moment of opportunity. And so I embraced the idea of "Do Something."

I have selected words or phrases in past years to help me keep my focus for the year, but this year I think I'm just going to keep going with the #DoSomething idea. Don't wait for the perfect time, doing something now is better than not doing anything at all. 

I came up with a general list of ideas for 2025 (leaving room for expansion) which I wrote about in November (you can read that post here). It was a good list. I like what I started with. And while I'm not ditching the ideas found there by any means, as I got to the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, I realized that committing to Do Something daily was better for me than big picture lists. So without further ado, here are the things I'm committed to working on in 2025: 

• Getting rid of 365+ things (I've already made a big dent in this, and am halfway through April!)
• Walk or bike five days a week (this will restart on January 6)
• Lower the grocery budget by $10/month - OR - eat healthier (I don't think I can do both)
• Write what #iamthankful for in a notebook, daily
• Monday-Friday, Instagram is turned off on my phone (and FB too), to stop mindless scrolling
• Read 60 books this year (average of five books a month)
• Commit to buying no new (or used) clothes or shoes for me in 2025
• Get out of bed 10 minutes earlier each month/earlier start to the day (which goes with...)
• Create a nighttime routine (skin care, vitamins, no phone, read paper book, hot tea, earlier to bed)

And as for those bigger goals, the ones that made the 25 in 25 list, here are a few steps I took this week to make those ideas a reality:

• I planned out special events (not even big stuff) and put them on my Google calendar (that I live and die by). Things like taking the kids down to the grocery store to get slushies for $1.50 after school one day a month, or taking them four times this year to our local Mennonite donut store to use the gift cards I planned ahead and bought during the holiday season so we could get the free $20 in bonus cards. 
• I spent time on Booking.com, planning out a summer trip and actually booking places to stay (with free cancellation), and setting up get togethers with friends along the way. That also allows me to know how much I need to set aside to for our vacation fund.
• I bought a bunch of apples at the grocery this weekend and we cut a lot of them up so they're easy to grab and snack on (crispy apples are even better than oily potato chips!).
• Knowing that my parents are getting older and it's not as easy for them to host us, I invited them to join us several times over the holidays, which they loved and we made more memories that we will treasure in years to come.
• As much as I dislike playing games, I know my kids love having "family time" - so I purposely ordered the Muppet's version of ClueⓇ, selected some special treats (most purchased 75% off after Christmas!), and we baked pizzas and spent New Year's Eve playing games, eating snacks, and reading through our box of memories that we had written down throughout the year. 

This week I was looking ahead to 2025 and the thought that crossed my mind was tempus fugit. Our eldest daughter (who has already flown from the nest) will be 21 this year. Our youngest will join three other siblings and become our final teenager. This fall we'll have two high school freshman, one sophomore, and one junior. We're planning a college visit this November. Before we know it, they'll be spreading their wings and moving on to the next segment of life, which I absolutely love and support, but it also takes my breath away. It always felt like we had more time to do the things we wanted to do, to take the trips, to make the memories. As it turns out, it's time to take my own advice and Do Something.

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." 

~ C.S. Lewis

Notes from My Bookshelf: September

NOTE: To be perfectly frank, I wrote most of this blog post at the beginning of September. But the last four days of the month have changed everything. The community where I live in upper East Tennessee was devastated by Hurricane Helene. Roads washed away (including portions of I-26 and I-40 between here and Asheville, NC), houses completely gone, electricity and water cut off - in some areas it will be weeks before it comes back, people have lost everything, and the final total of casualties has yet to be determined. While we, personally, had very little direct impact (a tree down, lost water for a day), our community and the surrounding areas, are hurting, and therefore, so are we. We're doing what we can to help - cutting up trees, volunteering at our local Park and Rec to receive, organize, and hand out donations, but it the weight of this event is still being felt, and it will be years before this beautiful mountain area I am blessed to call "home" recovers. Please pray for us, for East TN and Western NC, and upstate SC. 

WRITTEN PRIOR TO 9/27 ↓

I got a new mug for this fall season that reads, "The -ber months are finally here" and nothing could sum up my feelings about autumn any better than that. The occasional morning crispness, the evening chill that takes us from summer heat to the hint that cooler seasons will not abandon us forever. The smell of bonfires, the crunch of autumn apples (dipped in caramel), and the pumpkins. Of course the pumpkins. Forever a pumpkin girl. The self-seeding pumpkin patch in my backyard is all ablaze with yellow flowers and growing enough pumpkins to satisfy even my desires. And every November, when we toss them back into the corner, it's a bit like saying, "Goodbye dear friend. We'll see you again next year, when winter has brought rot and spring has turned you to seeds. When summer is finally over and your green stems will poke out again and remind me, as surely as you always do, that you will be back, just in time for autumn." 

Photo by alex geerts on Unsplash

Knowing that I had already met my goal of 48 books for the year didn't stop me from attempting to stick to my sub-goal of reading four books a month. What did stop me was a hectic family schedule and a large proofreading job the last week of the month. Life happens. EDIT: I still had hopes when I updated this on 9/25 that I would finish at least one more book, possibly two, but after Hurricane Helene unloaded on us on 9/27, all thoughts of reading were gone.

However, it also didn't deter me from getting into some more comfortable territory, with mystery being a top contender for my attention this month (I have two more going in my Kindle app at the moment). Now that the "race" to complete the larger goal is over, I'm still focusing on the books that have been sitting on my shelves (virtual or physical) for months, even years, awaiting their turn on my nightstand. Here's what I read through this month:

1. Swiss Family Robinson by Yohann David Wyss - ★★★★ It took me almost a year to get through this book with my youngest (she was 11 when we started, she's 12 now), but it was more a matter of life interruptions than disinterest in the story. After showing her the old Disney film, I insisted that we read the book together so she could hear the original. It was our regular read-aloud on her night each week (until life intervened), but we finally finished it this month and she was glued to the story. Our biggest complaints (and the reason it's probably more like a 3.5 star than a true 4 star) was just that there were a LOT of animals and names to keep straight, and we both found that a bit difficult, in addition to the boys names being similar. However, while I don't plan on reading it again, it is a definite "should read at least once" book. Just make sure you get the unabridged version! Three-and-a-half-stars. {Amazon Associates Link}
2. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - ★★★★★ Oh my goodness, I had minimally high hopes for this one, and for once I wasn't disappointed! I've been so sick of three star books, so this was a delightful discovery. The way I've been describing it to people (and I know I'm a bit late to the party, but still...) is like every cozy BBC mystery show meets Jessica Fletcher and her friends. Nursing home friends with plenty of kick left in them, solving crimes using a lifetime of skills and connections. No questionable language (THANK YOU MR. OSMAN!), no unnecessary sexual encounters, and an ending I can totally live with. Two thumbs way up. I got this on Kindle last October, and now I'm thinking it's time to use some Barnes & Noble gift cards I've been hoarding to buy the others! Five stars. {Amazon Associates Link}

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. Wherever you're reading from, I hope you and your family are safe and well, and that you're enjoying whatever signs of fall are showing themselves in your area. Make time to read and do the things you love, with the people you love, because we're not guaranteed tomorrow.