One

Hello, January... Seems like every time a new year rolls around, I remember I have a blog out here in blog-world and I feel compelled to write some stuff down.  I've been thinking a lot about the coming year, what I want to accomplish and what I want my 2015 to look like.  Last year the word "simplify" kept popping into my head, so I made several goals around simplifying our life.  Some things were accomplished and several were not (got rid of some stuff, still in the middle of some room shuffling, managed to try yoga two times, ran three half marathons, landed at an amazing new church, got Maya involved in gymnastics...).  I went into 2014 with more intentional goals than ever before.  Some goals were simple enough to achieve and some never came to be, because - as you know - your life can and will take twists and turns that you didn't anticipate.  Such was the case for us in 2014.

One goal for 2014 was to write more.  I ended up writing four blog posts last year... which is a 300% increase over the one blog post I wrote in 2013 (300%?  400%?  Math isn't my thing... you get the picture).  However, I never wrote a word after mid-March.  If you read my last blog post, you know it was dedicated to my very first fur-baby Oscar, who we had to put down last spring.  Gotta tell you... that blog post really took it out of me, as did that whole experience.  I remember after we said goodbye to Oscar, I told Chad that even though it was one of the hardest things we ever had to do, I was so grateful that we got to say goodbye on our own terms and he didn't just die suddenly with no warning.  Six weeks later, almost to the day, our youngest dog Frank died suddenly in our backyard, with no warning.  To lose two dogs in six weeks was just heart-wrenching and, to be honest, really unfair.  We took Frank to bury him by Oscar at Chad's parents' house, and on the way home I said to Chad "I'm glad he at least didn't die all alone in his crate."  The very next day our third dog Sonny passed away in his crate while we were gone.  Suffice it to say, March and April were extremely difficult months for us.  I didn't even know how to process what had happened, let alone to write about it.  I've always told myself I would only write when I have something to say, and for months, I just didn't have anything to say.  Side note: This super sad story has a happy ending... The day after we lost Sonny we went to the Humane Society for Hamilton County and adopted two new fur-babies.  Our house was not meant to be without dogs.  While I never again in my life want to experience the magnitude of loss we sustained in such a short time, Dexter and Rosie were waiting for us, and we showed up at the perfect time for them to come home to our house and our hearts.

Another goal was to run three half marathons.  I was signed up to run the Carmel Half, the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon, and the Monumental Half -- two spring races and a fall race.  One night mid-spring, Chad and I (plus a bottle of wine) decided spontaneously to sign up for the Geist Half, which was a few weeks after the second race.  I ended up running three half marathons in a five-week period.  I took a little time off from running long distances and picked my training back up in August.  On a longer run one Saturday morning, something in my foot didn't feel right.  I went to the doctor and found out I had a stress fracture in the top of my foot.  Adios, 4th race!  So I still technically achieved that goal, but that injury really derailed my training, my discipline, and any momentum I had built up with running.

I mention both of these examples because they reminded me that you can have the best-laid plans, but life is going to throw some stuff at you that you didn't anticipate.

As I was thinking about 2014 and looking forward to 2015, a new theme kept emerging - discipline, consistency.  If you know me at all, you know I am a starter, and not so much a finisher.  I love making grand plans, dreaming up big dreams, and figuring out how to make it happen.  But I inevitably lose steam along the way.  I lack discipline in a major way, so sticking to things and seeing them through to the end are difficult for me.  I saw a quote a while back that said "Stick to your task till it sticks to you.  Beginners are many but enders are few."  I printed that out and stuck it on my desk in front of my face, as a reminder to stick to it -- whatever it is.  However, one thing I've learned about myself is that I'm not terribly motivated by "results."  So if I set a goal, there is a good chance I will be content enough by getting "pretty close" to the goal, or I will achieve it and then not maintain the result.  I started to wonder if I am making the wrong goals all together.  I've always made results-driven goals.  But what if I looked at it a different way?

When I was a bank manager, I told numerous people on my staff that if you just focus on the activities, and do them relentlessly, then the results will come.  Just keep doing what you've committed to doing, and the numbers will be there.  And they always were -- as long as the activities kept happening.  I thought about adopting that philosophy for personal goals rather than sales goals.

Did you know that most people set goals that are way too easy, or don't stretch their vision far enough?  What if, instead of saying "I'm gonna lose ten pounds by the time I leave for vacation" or "I'm going to purge my house of all the stuff we don't need," I made my goals with actions and activities in mind, and then see what results come?

If I want to run a lot of races, why don't I commit to running consistently, with discipline and accountability?  If I want to write more, but I only want to write when I have something to say, why don't I commit to growing personally, professionally and spiritually so I have more things to say?  This is how I approached my "plan" for 2015.  This allows me to control the activities and leave room for life to take its twists and turns without derailing my results.

So here's the deal for 2015:  It's about developing discipline, and executing activities without a specific "goal" in mind.

1.  Run (at least) a mile a day for the next 365 days.  There will be days and weeks where I run exponentially more than that, as I still have plans to run three half marathons (just not in a five week period this time -- ha), but I need to be held accountable to consistently perform the activity, even when I don't have a race coming up, just because it's good for me.  I have two friends along for the ride on this one with me, and if anyone else is feeling froggy to jump on board with us, the more the merrier!

2.  Drink one gallon of water each day for the next 365 days (Kara just fell out of her chair when she read that).  I am a HORRIBLE water drinker.  I am literally never thirsty, unless I just ran at least three miles.  There are probably more days than I could count that I have consumed NO water at all.  This can't possibly be good for me, right?  There are countless benefits to being sufficiently hydrated. I can't tell you what any of them are, since I've never been sufficiently hydrated.  But I'll keep you updated.  Maybe I'll end up looking ten years younger.  Maybe I will weigh ten pounds less.  Maybe I will live ten years longer.  Who knows?  But I'll do it anyway.

3. Be in the middle of a book at all times.  If I want to have more to say, I need to be filling myself up with new thoughts, ideas, development, growth, dreams, stories... Whether it's fiction, nonfiction, work-related, spiritually based, or absolute mindless beach trash -- and whether it takes me a week or a month to get through each one -- if you ask me this year "What are you reading right now?" I'm committed to having an answer.

Hope you all are excited for a new year and a new start.  I hope you're dreaming up big, grand, outlandish dreams for what this year can bring.  And if you're still reading, I hope you haven't gone blind.  Sometimes I get a little wordy.  Don't worry, if the past two years are any indication, this might be one of the only blog posts I offer up for you to read anyway.  :)