I’m reposting this list of New Year’s intentions that I posted in 2013, with one addition. Certainly I have missed the mark on many of these. Play the piano more? It hasn’t happened. Worry less? Trying. Eat more dark chocolate? I’ve done a good job with that one. They are all still valid, though, and part of the process of living – in 2015 as much as they were in 2013. I want to remind myself of them, publicly. Also, several people have told me they have found them useful, with a request or two for reposting. So here they are again.
Yesterday, a friend commented to me that one of the intentions has indeed been met: to “find a publisher; deliver a manuscript worth publishing, worth reading.” I couldn’t be happier about that, but I’m leaving it on the list for what will come next.
As I wrote in 2013, I like the word "intention" better than "resolution." It implies something to work toward, move toward, rather than something at which you either succeed or fail.
Here's what I'm intending for the new year:
- Experiment more.
- Create more; consume less.
- Trust more; worry less.
- Read more; write more; watch less.
- Write more of what lasts longer.
- Waste less time.
- Spend more time in "creative idleness".
- Spend less; save more.
- Pray more.
- Use more paper, lots of paper.
- Use a pen more, a keyboard less.
- Find an agent; find a publisher; deliver a manuscript worth publishing, worth reading.
- Love more.
- Talk less but say more.
- Figure out how patience and urgency co-exist.
- Hope always.
- Cook more; eat less.
- Start sewing again.
- Play the piano more.
- Pursue truth, beauty, and goodness at every opportunity; realize every moment is an opportunity.
- Stand up straighter.
- Speak more often in the strength of my own voice.
- Find the way to do what needs to be done; sit quietly and wait for the Lord.
- Accept paradox.
- Pray more, pray without ceasing.
- Be more available to and vulnerable with God and others.
- See the signs, ask for signs; be more willing to step into the unknown.
- Use less; have less; give more away.
- Shorten my to-do lists.
- More intentionally be a conduit for the flow of God's grace to the world.
- Be silent more often.
- Pray more fervently for safety coast to coast but live less fearfully.
- Remind myself as often as needed where true hope lies.
- Start fewer projects but finish more of those I start.
- Be encouraged.
- Be excited.
- Be more attuned to the burdens of the people I pass on the street as well as those with whom I share a table or a home.
- Love God with ever more of my heart, soul, strength, and mind.
- Thank more.
- Eat less sugar but more dark chocolate.
What's on your list?
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[Photo: tree limbs under a winter sky.]