No 2015 New Year’s Resolutions for Me!

I love lists, and always have.  I love goals, and always have.  Which means that I grew up thinking New Year’s Resolutions must have been created with me in mind.  (The phrase “it’s all about me” was also probably created with me in mind!)

I don’t think I ever included reading books in my childhood resolutions because I read constantly anyway, but my lists did have things like Earn Girl Scout Badges and Win 1^st or 2^nd at Horse Shows. As a young adult, I included things like Lose 10 Pounds and Keep a Journal. (Hmm, I’m still trying to do those!) Parenting school-age children, my goals were Keep School Papers Organized and Have Family Home Evening Weekly.

Last year made a change. I realized that because I’m easily motivated, I’m setting goals like these all through the year – New Year’s Resolutions were just another occasion to set new goals. So for 2014, I thought I’d join the people choosing a word to focus on for the year.

The problem is that by February, I had forgotten all about it – to the point that I don’t even remember what my word was! I went on setting and re-setting short-term goals through the year: keep up with my homework and finish the semester (and graduate!); publish Through the Shimmer of Time; lose some weight, or at least not gain any.

I spent the first half of the year scrambling, as I had done the last two years as a “mature” college student. After graduation, I was still scrambling – I got Shimmer out, made two back-to-back long trips, and found out just how much work it is to promote an indie book. So as December rolled around, I thought I had my word for next year:

“BALANCE”

I need balance in my life. I have responsibilities as well as things that feed my soul, and I need to find time for all of them without feeling like I’m scrambling. Scrambling isn’t fun! So BALANCE seemed like a really good fit:  something that, if I focus on it, would make a huge difference in my life. And I could even blog about it – double points!

And then another word wormed its way into my mind, and BALANCE seems to have wiggled out the window. Not completely, because I think that this new word will bring balance for me in the process. But Balance began to feel like a to-do list – just one more thing to make sure I’m doing.

So what’s my new word for 2015?

I’m not telling!

At least, not until next week. *evil grin*  Stay tuned for the big reveal on New Year’s Day, and then join me on the journey!