As I was commenting on Stephany’s blog this morning recapping her 2024 goals and writing “Goals/resolutions are not for me, but I like reading about other people’s!” I remembered, hey, I did set ONE goal for 2024!

My goal was to stop rushing around so much – no more stacking appointments back-to-back, wearing myself out, and ending up super cranky because of it. I had a bad habit of cramming ALL THE THINGS into one day, thinking I’d be able to relax that evening or the next day, but it never quite worked out that way.

I didn’t turn it into a SMART goal, but I still achieved it over the year by practicing being lazy and putting things off. I started the year still stuck on the idea of trying to reach a “clean slate” to-do list – which is impossible. I had to reteach myself that my world won’t end if I push something off to another day. I had to trust myself to know what my family’s and my own priorities are, and let the rest wait.

In essence, I had to embrace a less structured, more flexible life. For example, no more rigid Sunday morning workouts – now I just wake up, relax, and work out later if I feel like it. Simple changes like that made a big difference.

It’s much better now and more apparent when I’m slipping back into the old habit. The week before Christmas, I had my annual vascular appointment and realized it was on the same day as my manicure, in two different towns. Since it’s hard to reschedule the vascular appointment (and I tried with the mani but Lorena was off the next day), I kept both and filled the in-between time with other to-dos even though I knew it would completely drain me. And I was right. Just the reminder I needed to avoid that in the future!

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I also mentioned a few weeks ago that my snister picked out three words for me for 2024 – calm, adventure, and healing.

That just shows how much my snis knows me, because those were big focuses for me this year.

Calm – everything I mentioned above about being less structured and actually relaxing. It’s a work in progress but much better than 2023!

Adventure – so much adventure! Lots of fun travel – Europe, Colorado a few times (1, 2, 3a, 3b, 3c), trips to Iowa, I went to Seattle, etc. We went on at least 13 flying trips. We had adventures at home with our visitors (Stephany, my parents). I ran that marathon. And other things I am too lazy to look up.

Healing – Physically, I got to a much better place with keeping my blood thinners at therapeutic levels (meaning I go in less to have my blood checked!). And mentally, I did a lot of work on my relationship with food.

On to 2025! Happy New Year!