This was my New Year's post last year. I was in pretty good spirits considering Mom's death was still pretty fresh. I achieved some of my goals for the year which is nice to see. I'll write some tomorrow for New Year's 2013.
I love the New Year. In some ways it is just another day on the calendar, a single day to celebrate and not go to work (which is awesome). But I like the feeling of a clean slate in front of me... the possibility of the wonderful things that lay ahead. It doesn't always work that way, of course. But I'm an eternal optimist and every January 1st I feel like I have the whole year ahead to live a life filled with better choices, lots of laughs, and the goal to reach December 31st and look back saying "Yeah, I did okay this year."
2011 was pretty good to me. Let me rephrase that... I did pretty well in 2011. I'm the one who made the choices, found the laughs, lived the life of that year. Even with my mom passing away toward the end of the year, I can't say my momentum was stopped... slowed perhaps, but still going strong. I find myself using her way of living life, her spirit, and all the wonderful memories of her as inspiration to create my own life filled with laughter and fun. I've always believed tragedy, just like any other change, is an opportunity in life... you can either let it beat you down or you can seize the opportunity to find the good in it. This is just my first time faced with it. And so far I feel like I'm living up to that belief.
But back to my year ahead... I have lofty goals this year. I'm going to continue to hit the gym. It's good for me, and I love it. I'm hoping to add at least one more day a week to my list of twofers. I usually do a 2 hour workout on Tuesday and Saturday... I want one more. This seems like an easy goal. :)
A more challenging goal I have? I also want to drop a lot of body fat. I won't say I want to lose weight. At this point I don't know what a good weight with muscle will be. I just want to comfortably get into my size 6 jeans I bought. So my focus will be on body fat percentage and inches. I also need to lose some of this fat around my middle since that also means I'll be losing the hidden fat on my organs. Focus on health, the vanity part of it comes along with it! :) I'm hoping to be at the beach in Florida in August. I truly want to be in a bikini on the beach... and not just wearing one. I could wear one now... just wouldn't be pretty. I'd like to look like I should be wearing a bikini. I want to be able to say "Yeah, I'm almost 40, I work my ass off, and it shows."
I have a few other goals... some I'll share here later and some I may not. Really my ultimate goal for 2012 is the goal I will have every year to come... I want to feel like I'm actually "living" my life... not just being an observer from the sidelines and waiting for things to happen to me. I've managed this for 2 years now... looking forward to the one ahead. Happy New Year everyone!
