ReNewed Year Resolutions!

Did you set New Year Resolutions this January?

Yeah, me too.

So, how are those going? If they're going great then you should probably stop reading my blog because we will not connect in many areas. (Unless you swear sometimes or watch Arrested Development. Then you might have a chance.)

I set goals and I really liked them and I was really good at them for a while. Nearly six months into the year I'm having a little self-evaluation and realizing that I need to renew my energies on those a bit. Here's a recap of my 2013 goals.

Spiritual: Read The Bible cover to cover.

Emotional: Purposefully serve a member of my family everyday.

Physical: Form a habit of going to bed hungry.

Mental: Read 30 books.

Word of the year: Listen

Reading The Bible was going really well for a while. I figured out that if I read 5 pages everyday I'd finish both the Old and New Testament in a year, with a few weeks to spare. Guys, The Bible is cool. I'm ashamed of this, but it's been years since I attempted reading it cover-to-cover and I was really into it. Then.... I hit Numbers.... so... boring....

Numbers is so boring.

You can only do this but only on this day and it should only be done for this long and only when certain things are certain ways and now let's list all of the certain ways that the things must be.

Boring.

But I'm finally in Deuteronomy and I am feeling renewed enjoyment and consistency on that goal. Ya scriptures!

Purposefully serving a member of my family really makes me more mentally conscious of how I serve them and the types of service that are hard for me. Leaving notes, investing time, not complaining when they ask for help, all those things make me think a little more and work a little harder. I really enjoy this goal but just need to be more intentional with it.

Going to bed hungry + newborn = I'm not exactly sure when "going to bed" happens anymore. I'll work on that one and get back to you.

Reading has been a renewed love of mine. I've read 22 books this year and so this goal is going pretty well. In the last six weeks my reading has seriously slowed down, but I'm reading Les Miserables right now and loving it. I love reading! I've been keeping track of what I've read and also writing short little delios about what I thought of the book. My list is here: goodreads list If you click on the "view" thing you can see my feedback. I know you're all super interested in investing hours in perusing my goodreads shelves. Please enjoy.

The word of the year concept was introduced to me by this blog that I love. www.71toes.com I started it last year (my word was "pause") and I absolutely love it. My goal this year was to practice listening to people more and fostering opportunities for me to listen (i.e. not talking so dang much). I feel like I'm doing poorly on this but I'm going to try harder. I also want to practice listening to my own self and the thoughts that come to me and the inspirations I feel. I get distracted and my ability to be still and listen gets weak sometimes.

Now that I've written all this out I'm so eager to refocus on these things! Bit by bit I'm beginning to see the benefits this blogging world offers. (Still not entirely convinced though.)

Happy Mid Year!