Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – November 18, 2004

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – November 18, 2004

A Mini Re-Cap

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – November 18, 2004 – I’m not ready to call this year a fait accompli just yet. However as the year draws closer to an end, it’s time to get out my goal sheet and see how I’ve fared to date. I always have a general idea of what I’d like to accomplish every year, but I try not to analyse my every move.

Ideally I don’t have more than six or eight entries on my sheet, otherwise nothing gets done and I simply get bogged down with a gigantic To Do list. In the closing days of December last year I sat down with pen and paper and this is what I wrote:

1)   Financial responsibility and control.

2)   Health – Fitness & Nutrition.

3)   Relationship – Have one!

4)   Friends & entertaining – Do it!

5)   Spiritual reading every day.

6)   Interests – Daily writing.

7)   Giving Back – World Vision & The Humane Society.

Not an imposing or impossible list by any means, but one that necessitates more than a modicum of effort. I once took a course that said that any and all goals that a person sets, should be parsimonious – in this case meaning – “an economy in the use of a means to an end”. Are the goals remotely doable? If they are grandiose, unrealistic, out of character or ill-conceived, people will not achieve them and will give up soon after they start.

You may be thinking – how does she know this? I know this from all the years I’ve spent wearing the crowns of the Queen of Rationalization and the Princess of Procrastination. I have set at least one million goals during my lifetime. Of course I’ve achieved many of them – sometimes by design and other times through a certain inexplicable serendipity.

So how am I doing this year? I’m happy to report – not too badly at all, thank you very much:

1)   Financial: I achieved, even surpassed my financial goal and I was fairly (not completely) successful in keeping a cap on my impulse – I just gotta have it – spending.

2)   Health & Fitness: I bought Howard and we have more than a passing relationship, but we’re not a committed item yet. I’m eating quite well and aware of the importance of healthy food and vitamin supplements.

3)   Relationship: Okay this one is a great big “goose egg” – not because I don’t have opportunities, but because I’m a gargantuan chicken. Where is my tiger when I need him? More work to do on this one. I’m quite happy on my own and that may be the real reason why I don’t worry about being “involved”!

4)   Friends & Entertaining: Humm. I had friends over a few times for lunch and coffee, but didn’t manage to share my home with my pals the way I had hoped to. This remains a goal for the coming year.

5)   Spiritual reading everyday: I go in fits and starts here, but that’s okay. I always have a book or two at my bedside and they offer me both solace and inspiration. I’m sure I will continue to read books of this nature throughout my lifetime.

6)   Interests – writing daily: This was my true touchstone this year. “367 Little Stories From An Everyday Life”. I have pursued this goal with humour, grace, determination, trepidation and gratitude. It stands as one of my greatest, personal achievements. I am inordinately proud of this accomplishment.

7)   Giving Back: I made the decision in January to support World Vision and The Toronto Humane Society this year, and I’ve done both, and will continue to do so as long as my resources allow.

It’s almost time to start thinking about what my goals will be for next year. I don’t think they will vary greatly. I still have some work to do on this year’s list, and I’m happy to continue to move forward in this direction. All of these goals were achievable. None was a pie in the sky dream. I’d still think that I might like to have a relationship with an exceptional man, get my health concerns kicked in to high gear, continue to eat well and look after my health and entertain on a more regular basis.

I will need to come up with a new goal to replace my writing. I have 43 more daily stories to go, and I will have completed this unlikely project. Goals can be an incredibly worthwhile pursuit, as long as you think carefully about setting them and they are “yours”, not those set for you by someone else.

I have surprised myself this year. I have given up prematurely on goals in the past and this year has been a triumph for me. I’m learning the wonderful things of which I’m capable. What a joy!