Thursday, January 1, 2009

2009 Resolutions

I'm the kind of person who loves a fresh sheet of paper, a new sunrise, and any other chance to think about the future and define new goals and ways to get there.

On the other hand, this is the first time I'm sketching out my resolutions so publicly. So I'm a little afraid of not getting this right.

But I will take the plunge anyway! Here goes.

In 2009, I resolve to:

  • Find a local charity in which to become deeply involved. I want to be able to give back just as much to people in my geographic area as I do to those in other parts of the world. I should have a good idea of what that charity is by April.

  • That being said, continue my involvement with Mayan Families and ideally take an organizational role in a small part (teen pregnancy prevention, perhaps?). I've got a donation goal in my budget for this year, so I will monitor my progress against that. I should probably have some idea of the organizational goal by April.

  • Post here at least a few times a week and maintain friendships with my amazing blogger friends. Comment on my friends' blogs at least once a week.

  • That being said, not spend countless hours procrastinating online. Any more than an hour and a half per night on the internet is probably too much.

  • Start reading books again! One book a month is a modest goal. I was an ENGLISH MAJOR, for crying out loud! So, ideally, I should be reading much more. But baby steps first!

  • Spend more quality time with local friends. Particularly, have more dinners here at home with friends. How about at least one dinner per month?

  • Visit my parents and my friends in the Capital District. I haven't gone up since our wedding! We should definitely visit by springtime.

  • Keep up my German language skills. I feel like my fluency, at least as far as speaking, is starting to fade! Read the latest issue of Der Spiegel at least once a month and ideally go back to Berlin with Michael to visit friends.

  • Actually read the manual to my new digital camera and improve the clarity and composition of my photographs. I should have at least made some headway by February.

Those are the main ones so far. I'll amend this with any updates as we go along!

4 comments:

Nikki said...

Those are great goals. I used to make new years resolutions but havent seemed to have gotten around to it in the past few years! Instead, I find that i usually make goals for myself, similar to new years resolutions, whenever i come back from a volunteer trip.

Kellygirlnyc said...

Can we practice our German together? We should go out to a German-speaking-only dinner every so often! :)

David Serchuk said...

Bravo on putting yourself out there so much. I think these are worthy goals, and I know that when I listen to my better angels I too want to become more involved locally. After all, we all live somewhere, and so we could change the world together. Even if you complete half these goals you still would have had a worthy 2009!

Dave

Holly said...

Nikki, you are great at achieving those goals you make after you get back from your volunteer trips! I can't wait to hear what your goals will be after Ethiopia.

Kelly, absolutely! That would be awesome! Do we have any other local friends who speak German who might want to join? I'm blanking now on who might speak German.

Thank you, Dave! Yes, wouldn't that be amazing if we all could work together to change things? I just have to go outside our front door to think of how wonderful it would be, for example, if everyone in my neighborhood picked up loose trash. I admit, I'm as guilty as anyone for just walking by and not picking it up. Hmmm...there's another resolution!