Don't be Mean in 2015

About a week ago the three of us were chatting during the dinner. I brought up the topic "what are your New Year's resolutions." Ashley thought about it for a minute and came up with "don't be mean in 2015." She was looking for something to rhyme with "fifteen," which means she can easily carry this goal over to 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. I like it. Just think of how amazing the world would be if we all kept that simple resolution.

Last year I listed my resolutions. I broke them down into professional, running, relaxation, and environmental categories. Overall, I did pretty well with them. Always room for improvement, of course.

This year I want new goals. This might be a start, or it might be the end list. We'll see how my thoughts shape up this week.

1) Spend more time with friends and family. My plan is make it a point to spend at least one meal a week with a friend and focus on that person/people -- i.e., no cell phones or other distractions, just make that person a priority while we are together. Likewise, people who cannot give me the same respect, I will not spend much time with this year.

2) Be nice to people and treat them the way I want to be treated -- i.e., cut back on complaining.

3) Tell people what I really think of them. No, this not a contradiction to the second resolution. Instead tell people why I like them, and what makes them awesome. I hope this is reciprocated as we all need to hear how fabulous we are.

4) Spend time with people who want to spend time with me. I have spent too much time with people who don't think I am terrific as I think they are. It is a drain. Life is too short for that kind of work -- especially when I am not paid for it.

5) Give God my first 5-10 minutes each day with the Upper Room devotional. It is not much, but I have to start someplace. Through God's grace, that time will grow and flourish.

6) Purge. Purge. Purge. Our goal is to move into a house half this size by September 2016. That will only happen with getting rid of a lot of stuff. 

7) Buy a new bike and get out and ride it. I'm eyeing up an Electra from Bruno's Bicycles: One Sweet Ride, a local company I wrote a story about last month. Yes, being a freelance writer sometimes means I spend more at a business than I earn from writing the story, but by writing stories I have a little extra money to spend, so it balances out in the end.

There are some other changes I am thinking about implementing, but I am not ready to turn them into resolutions. This might be the year I learn to swim, or yoga, or a new exercise program (in addition to bicycling). It seems every five years, or so, I start some new exercise program -- walking transformed into rollerblading which turned into running. My body is aching for a change.

I am also not ready to make a professional goal. I would really like focus on my memoir business, and by business I mean land my first post-Andy client. I know there is a huge market for it, I don't know how to tap into it. I've been burned my non-paying clients in the past, and can't afford to keep doing business that way.

As my goals are more vague than last year, I will not be posting monthly updates. Wish me well on my voyage to become a better me.

Happy New Year!