(Photo by Michelle Wu, Vancouver, BC)
As I thought about New Year’s resolutions this year, while I did jot down a quick random list off the top of my head as a starter yesterday, I’ve decided to give myself a week or two to further contemplate and mull over what it is I really want to aim for in 2015… Maybe I’ll make it a month-long task for January?
Mainly I want to give myself time and space to freely brainstorm, before sitting down to edit and cut my “list”– whatever it will end up looking like–so that it becomes more like a well thought-out plan I can confidently share and then set about following than a wish-list of good intentions.
For now I will share 3 phrases that are jumping out at me so far.
(1) A Time to Commit and Focus
If these last couple years vocationally (“calling-wise”) was that of “finding and exercising my voice” within the safety of little to no commitment/pressure/expectations/obligations (while my primary focus time & energy-wise remained that of adjusting to being a mom of 3) — then this year seems to be the “next step” in this journey I seem to be on.
One of the biggest changes this year will be saying “yes” to increased commitment and focus in ministry as I take on a staff role at my Church. I am excited about the area I will be focused on (Community Life!), but will not know any details/specifics of my responsibilities and hours etc until a meeting this upcoming Tuesday morning (which really is quite soon from now).
Honestly I am a bit nervous how everything will work out schedule- and energy- wise, as I will remain a busy mom, but I believe the time is right, and the calling is in the right direction, so somehow things will fall into place– and “we” will figure it out as we move forward (as in I am not alone in this to figure it all out, but am on the same team as my husband, my pastor who will now be my “boss”, and my many amazing friends, some with whom I’ll soon be working alongside).
This year will be about refining my focus and investing greater effort in particular directions, not only ministry-/work-wise, but hopefully also with this website (which I’ve come to realize more and more is super important to me). I hope to be putting some extra thought behind the words I want to say and the things I want to do, and then making some extra effort to speak up a bit louder…
(2) Searching out Signatures
For some reason I have also really had “lipstick” on my mind this year, and am currently in the process of researching and seeking out some “signature colors” for the year that are brighter and bolder than what I typically wear– “brighter and bolder” to match what I believe and expect this year will be.
Don’t worry men, there IS deeper meaning believe it or not behind my lipstick search than a woman’s love for makeup (which although it may perhaps be growing a bit in this season, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there simply isn’t enough room in my heart for makeup to ever become a “main” focus for me).
I feel like in this new season it is important to give my image some consideration, and in the process to reflect upon and seek out greater understanding of what “beauty” is and why certain notions of beauty have such a hold on society, even often to a destructive degree. I had been contemplating this topic since it came up in an informal brainstorming chat on what would be a good theme for a women’s conference or workshop should we ever choose to hold one, and then surprisingly last month I was invited to speak on “beauty” to a youth group in March.
I also see myself working on my image more since I’m realizing having an online “voice” and “presence” are important areas of growth for me that I want to invest in as a vehicle for greater influence/impact in future years. Likely will take this process slowly, and un-drastically, but it is a process I will begin.
(3) Building Strength and Flexibility
I realize that physical fitness and health are very popular/typical and perhaps a bit cliché to discuss at the start of a new year, but it has become clear to me that it can be futile to go after any other big life pursuits without making sure the “vehicle” we’ve been stewarded with remain up to task.
These last couple of months have been physically very discouraging and uncooperative, as I was sick and then injured through most of it, on top of taking care of children who also took turns getting sick.
And so there is a new resolve in me to start taking my physical fitness and health more seriously. Not that I feel like I’ve ever been super neglectful (I always keep at least one eye on what I eat and try to be “moving” throughout any given day), but I feel it’s time to step it up in this area as well.
As I had determined to “strengthen my feeble arms (and legs)” this year, when a friend shared his decision to sign up for a half-marathon in June so that he would have an actual goal to be training for, I decided the next day to join in :). It will be my first official “run” I will participate in since my high school cross country days.
While I wait for my foot/ankle to fully heel, I will be spending the next couple weeks figuring out my health and fitness plan…. And will likely keep everyone posted as I go 🙂
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully throughout this year as I seek to continue growing and increasing my capacity to give back to the world what God has given me, I can keep hold of the lessons learned from last year to approach each day with balance, grace and joy.
Things I want to remember include:
(1) to stay balanced and taking good care of my self, my marriage, my family, my friends, and hobbies on the side
(2) scheduling at 80% is keeping my schedule “full” (with necessary room to breathe and/or allow for extra incidences like accidents, traffic jams etc, or receiving Good Samaritan assignments)
(3) not rushing (i.e. unhappy mornings for kids, car accidents, slipping on stairs)
On a side note, our second investment home keys have been passed on and signed for (may need just one more week to schedule fixing a couple more things we discovered last minute), and I am extremely pleased to have found tenants who seem equally extremely pleased to have been selected to rent the house. It particularly made me happy to hear them say they love the colors since that’s the one thing I was worried about when choosing the paint and flooring.
Norwex will get somewhat sidelined–but I’m happy to say I am still VERY impressed with my Norwex Cloth’s “cleaning with water” abilities, especially as I used my mop, dusters, Envirocloth and window cloth to clean our investment house (due to the holidays it wasn’t possible to book the cleaning company I used last year so I took on the task myself).
I will close with a couple photos showcasing one of the cleaning issues I came across that my Norwex was able to take care of quickly, simply and cleanly (and why amidst my anticipated busyness I still hope to keep doing a few educational demos/parties here and there for the joy of spreading the word): the patio sliding door handle.
While I had used it often to open and close the sliding door between the kitchen and back patio, and remember it being “dark,” I hadn’t realized until the last day that the handle wasn’t actually all dark…and actually wasn’t supposed to be dark. And so I decided to try my wet Envirocloth on it (with just water) and noticed that the dark “stuff” was starting to come off.
As I took a closer look I realized it was actually a lot of greasy dirt buildup from over the years, so I added a little bit of Norwex’s dish soap on my cloth for extra grease-fighting power (to speed up the process), and had the handle nice and clean within a few minutes.
Turns out it wasn’t a dark handle after all =)
I find that life is sometimes like that too — sometimes the parts of us we use everyday and just assume is how it is supposed to be as long as it’s functional (cause the handle still did its job of opening the door), we don’t realize until the busyness settles and we take a closer look to see that there’s a brightness to be uncovered from underneath built-up gunk…
May this year ahead be one of discovering who we are–who we were meant and created to be–and stepping out and forward into the beauty that God created in, through and for us!