My Bountiful Life…

We had a great New Year.
New Year’s Eve was low-key. We stayed home and just hung out. Jordan and I played Guild Wars to ring in 2008 :D The next day we had some family and friends over. The boys played video games (of course lol) and there was food (mmmm) and champagne (MMMMMMMM!) and some great company. It was a really good time.

2007 was a good year. A very good year. But I’m looking forward to 2008 and expect it will be even better.
I’ve never been one for lists of Official New Year Resolutions, but I made January 1, 2008 the start date for the next round of my 101 Things in 1001 Days Project. This is the second time I’ve done this and so far, I’m enjoying it even more than the first time. I’ve been writing down ideas for this list for months now and as it came together these last weeks, some trends became clear, most notably the focus on developing better habits. As with my first list, there is also a focus on goals towards better health. At this point, my list (which is here) will still undergo some fine tuning, but I’m happy with the overall tone :)
I know of a bunch of people who are doing 101/1001. Leave me an comment if you’d like me to link to yours.

It’s New Year’s Eve. And we’re staying home. Because we want to.
We’ve been busy the last week: lots of travelling and visiting, lots of lugging around bags of hockey equipment and luggage. This morning, when the three of us were considering our options for tonight (and there were several), Jordan said, “Why don’t we just stay home and relax? We can play.”
The boy is a genius. And when I suggested we make a shopping list and head out for snacks and something sort-of-fancy for dinner he said, “No. No snacks, nothing fancy. I said relax.” See? Brilliant.
Is there a more meaningful way to celebrate the turning of the wheel and new beginnings than with an evening at home, just being together? I don’t think so.

Aside from the hours I spent on the phone today (oops), I’ve been pondering my New Year’s Resolutions, or, rather, my lack of them. And I won’t be making any, either. Instead, I’m spending some time going over my 101 Things in 1001 Days list and crossing off things I’ve finished and making some plans for the things I will tackle next.

If you aren’t familiar with the project, I’ve outlined it here, but basically, you make a list of 101 discreet, measurable goals, and try to finish them in 1001 days. I began my project on October 24, 2004 and will finish on July 22, 2007. As of today, I have 567 days left and 86 items left to complete.

I love this project. 101 Things allows for the smaller things that are meaningful but you just don’t do enough, and for things you’ve always wanted to try just once. By having 1001 days (that’s about 2.75 years) to work with, there is time for the bigger projects and long-term items, and if you miss that opportunuty to watch the sun rise on Easter, all is not lost, you can try again next year.

My lists focusses a lot on getting control of things that fell to the wayside with prolonged illness. When I began this project, there was a promise of better health for the first time in a long time and I wanted to clean up the mess and get my life back on track, but I also wanted to celebrate life and spend time doing things I had been longing to do – like walk the dog in the rain and build a snowfort. My lists reflects a balance of all those things.

This has worked better for me than any list of resolutions has ever done. It isn’t just that I am a work in progress, as we all are, but I feel the progress being made. When I feel stagnant or unproductive, I refer back to my list. When I am choosing among opportunities, I refer to the list. When I need a new life project, I look at the list. I have no doubt that come July 2007, I’ll be preparing another list of 101 Things and I’ll be starting 101 Things in 1001 Days V2.0.

Happy New Year.

#16. I walked the dog in the rain today. That makes 3 out of 15 times done. 20% done.
She loved it. Splashed through all the puddles :)

#7. watched the sunrise on Sunday from my backyard. Not exactly a spectacular view, but I was there ;) 10% done

#10. Managed to complete a 3-day raw foods/juice fast. YAY! Felt great too! 33% Done.

#27. The crazy wallpaper has been stripped! Yay!

#33. We got our new sofa a few weeks ago! DONE!!

#49. I think I’m reading my 15th book this year… so I’m on track for 20 in 12 months. 75% done.

#83. I completed an 8-week spinning class at the Burlington Art Centre. I loved it so much that I bought a wheel and have made room in my lfe for this latest obsession. DONE!

#101. I’ve been making cd’s of my digital photos. I’ve done all of 2004 and 2005, and part of 2003. I have to go back to 2001 though, I think. So about 40% done :)

Wow… that’s a lot more progress than I realised.

724 days, 92 items left.

In the past six weeks I have made about a dozen updates on my progress with my list of 101 Things.
Unfortunately, each and every one of those updates is a scribble in my day planner and does not exist here.
I’d transcribe some of them now, but you know, my day planner is way over there *points to coffee table 5 feet away* and like, what am I? some kind of athlete or something? Sheesh.

I can’t seem to get going on this stuff again since the Christmas blow-out. I’m having trouble finding a schedule or being organized at all.
The point of many of the items on my 101 Things list is to help me to be organized and to be moving forward. None of that has been happening this month at all. It isn’t that the deadline of 1001 days is haunting me, but since I began this project a few months ago, I have really enjoyed that feeling of moving forward, of being focused on goals, of accomplishing things. It is very satisfying. There are moments of joy in it, even.

It looks like some serious interim list-making is in order.