Onward to 2022!

Do you treat the new year as a time to start fresh? Are new resolutions made? For me, I like to think of it as a time of assessment and evaluation. Looking back on the previous year, I note the highlights and the low points~what went well, and what things I’d like to change. And then create a plan. So let’s go onward to 2022!

My Word for 2022: Deliberate

With so many uncontrollable outside sources impacting our lives, I find it a bit challenging to stay focused, grounded, intentional and deliberate. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition of the verb deliberate, means “slow, unhurried, and steady as though allowing time for decision on each individual action involved”.

We all experience being pulled in many directions that acting with purpose is sometimes not possible. My hope for 2022 is to concentrate and be deliberate in four areas of focus: 1) Home; 2)Personal Growth/Productivity; 3) Health; 4) Aging/Future.

Home

Does anyone else dream of a home where every closet, drawer, cabinet, room is organized, clean, with finished decor? Is this even possible? If someone has achieved this, please tell me how! Living in a historic home on a large property does have its maintenance challenges but it’s more than just that.

As we enter into an empty nesting life stage, there is much decluttering to do. Donating all the items we don’t use anymore, touch-up paint, re-upholstering or purchasing new furniture….you know, having the place looking like it’s ready for a realtor open house. Don’t get me wrong, many rooms I love, but I just need to tidy up a bit in some and alot in others.

The plan is to tackle two rooms (or more) and an outoor space a month. In January, the room goal is the master bedroom/closet, master bath and upstairs office. Starting is the biggest challenge and I plan to share the progress with you…please make me accountable!

Personal Growth/Productivity

I love to learn new things and having this blog is certainly a way to step out of my comfort zone. Meeting new friends and establishing relationships with others around the country is a wonderful benefit. And I am always learning through others who are far more talented than me.

In addition, I want to be more efficient with my time that I spend on the blog, and social media. Since I’m not a fan of being on the computer or phone for long hours, having a good schedule with focused assignments should make me more productive.

In 2021 I let my love of painting slide. Quite honestly, it has been months since I have picked up a paintbrush. For some reason, I am failing to make time in my life for this. So my hope and goal for 2022 is to set aside Fridays to paint. Do you know that my last post on painting was March 2020? You can see it here, but how did I let so much time slip by without doing something I love? Again, I need to prioritize.

One of the many downsides to this pandemic, is I feel I have lost my wanderlust and desire to explore. Though we traveled quite a bit last year, there is now a sense of foreboding that didn’t exist before. Perhaps the way to resolve that is more day trips and explorations closer to home. Arizona is such a beautiful state and it’s about time I learned more about the resource right in my back yard.

Health

The month of December was riddled with injuries for me. As I was recovering from a shoulder injury early in the month, I had a bit of a snorkeling accident in St. Thomas, resulting in some rib cage damage. Of course, I thought I could “stretch it” out when I returned home to Phoenix, by gingerly attending a Pilates class. With limited range of motion, I inadvertently tweaked my psoas muscle. Arggg.

Just before Christmas I was limping and guarding my ribs, when I tripped backwards over a planter in the yard during a rain storm….twisting my left knee. Sigh. There are days when I feel like I should just wrap myself in bubble plastic and ice. Since the ribs will take about 6 weeks to heal, it hurts to engage my abdominal muscles. As a result, my lower back aches. I sound like a character in a Laurel and Hardy movie!

However, what I am learning is patience in healing. And I admit I am not very with tolerant with the setback of these injuries. Exercise is greatly limited to walking and breathing. BUT, I am committed to healing and making 2022 a very healthy year.

At the end of the day, our health is really up to us. I saw this post on Instagram by Dr. Raymond Nichols and agree with its rather blunt message. Here are the two deliberate actions I am taking in 2022:

• Moving every day (except Sunday)~whether it is walking, Pilates, biking, going to the gym for an hour
• Drinking half my body weight in ounces of water (so if you weigh 120 lbs, that’s 60 oz. of water daily)

Hopefully, this will lead to strengthening and losing some of the fruitcake pounds I put on over the holidays.

Aging/Future

Well, none of us are getting younger. My husband and I are starting to talk about the “next chapter”. We are both in good health, but we are aging and we want to start thinking about what we want to do when we grow up.

This past year we did investigate other parts of the country as living options~Charleston, Hilton Head, Palmetto Bluff, Edisto and Seabrook Islands on the east coast. Our recent visit to St. Thomas stimulated good conversation about living on the water vs. the mountains or desert.

Currently we feel blessed to live here and have a vacation home in the mountains. And maybe my love of the water will be satisfied with a lengthy Air BnB rental somewhere on a coast. But, none the less, it is fun to explore all options and who knows what the future holds.

Lastly, after the rather challenging management of my Aunt’s affairs last year, we really need to get our paperwork in order. That is a very necessary and important goal. I certainly do not want to leave the burden of managing our estate undefined and cumbersome to anyone. So I will be expanding on my Household and Family Binder (see that post here) and setting up a separate one for our deaths and estate planning.

Wishing you all a new year of fresh hopes and exciting dreams, and of course, strong immune systems. Our Christmas decorations stay up until January 6th (the Epiphany) so I am really enjoying the post holiday peace for a few more days.