The year 2014 came with more blessings than I can count, many opportunities for growth, and some new found and very dear friends. Fortunately I was able to ring in the new year with some of those new friends. The night was filled with good brews, great conversation, and wonderful company.
To kick off the new year here is a list of the things I would like to accomplish in the year 2015
1. Read these 5 literary gems:
Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (I am sort of cheating with this one since I am already half way through...please withhold judgment)
The Story of a Soul by Therese of Lisieux
Back to Virtue by Dr. Peter Kreeft
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
The World's First Love by Fulton Sheen
And maybe post a blurb (my favorite parts, quotes, what struck me, etc) about them when finished? Am I setting myself up for failure with this caveat? I guess only time will tell...ha. I plan on reading more books that these noted, but I wanted to set a concrete goal and these seemed like a reasonable undertaking. Also, I would like to throw up some posts/suggestions for other books that I have already read but I am not going to explicitly state them because I have not chosen any. No expectations leads to no disappointments.
2. Talk (a lot) less in order to listen more.
I have never counted the number of words I say, but I am confident it is absurdly higher than the average person's. Frankly, I just need to shut up because no one enjoys me monopolizing the conversation. I truly appreciate that I am outgoing and extroverted, but I also want to be wary of the hindrances this gift (that's for you to decide if it should appropriately be called a gift) presents.
3. Run my second half and first (and probably only) full marathon.
I'll see you at the finish line 13.1 miles later in April and a whopping 26.2 miles later in October. I wanted to slide the dates in there to solidify this goal. Still to be determined if these races will be in Kansas City or St. Louis, but probably one of each. Running will help me stay physically and spiritually fit because this girl gets her podcast on as she jogs along. Also, I am going to dedicate my training to praying for the souls in purgatory.
4. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours consistently.
I am pretty good about saying the morning prayer found in my daily missal, but I would like to take the next step and do the full Liturgy of the Hours. My hope is to essentially have my day scheduled (as much as I can) around prayer and taking time to be quiet with the Lord. Fingers crossed that this contributes to me talking less too.
5. Go to confession more, need to go less.
I absolutely love the sacrament of Reconciliation (seriously...I could talk your ear off about how incredible I think it is, but there I go again talking too much). I am beyond grateful for the grace given in this sacrament. I never ever regret taking the time to go and I always feel exponentially renewed and revived afterwards. The point of confession is forgiveness, but also to continually try to overcome particularly tricky pitfalls that we encounter, hence the latter part of this goal. In this coming year, with the grace from the sacraments I pray that I can fine tune my conscience and avoid the temptations that usually get to me. Ultimately, working on becoming more humble, less prideful.
6. Attempt to curb my caffeine addiction.
I am not going to cut out coffee completely (ya crazy!) because there is nothing inherently wrong with coffee, but I do want to not be dependent upon it. Nobody has time for that afternoon caffeine headache. So I am going to cut down the amount of coffee I consume on a daily basis and substitute more herbal and green teas. Putting my brand new red tea kettle to use (Thanks for the Christmas gift, Grandma!) All good things in moderation.
7. Leave less crossword puzzles almost finished.
I am notorious for getting most of the puzzle filled in. This goal is rather silly, but a personal goal nonetheless.
Hmm...seven sounds like a reasonable number of goals for the year. I wouldn't want to overwhelm myself too early. So I will wrap it up here. Blog readers, please hold me accountable (this is where it comes in handy that you all are few and far between muwahah...just kidding...I genuinely want to stick to these seven manageable goals and would appreciate your help)
So here's to 2015...a year filled with good books, good runs, good tea, and more prayer, more humility, more listening, and more completed crossword puzzles. Greater things are yet to come.
cheers.
Allison
