Today for me marks the first day after holiday/vacation mode. I sorted, saved on Pinterest, and scrapped well over a hundred “saved” posts on my family and friends Facebook page.  I have read, filed, deleted and shared hundreds upon hundreds of emails from my personal email account, and I am not finished (plus I still have two other accounts to sift through for my business and other income).  A holiday or vacation is wonderful while it is happening, but the aftermath of playing “catch-up” can be wearying.  So, instead of catching-up, I intend to make a clean sweep and set some new and different goals.

This Thursday, I will reach level 50, which is a much more fun way to say it is my fiftieth birthday.  At a half-century of age, I could say my life is, at the very least, half-over.  But who wants to live with such a defeatist mindset?  Instead, I intend to celebrate each small victory as it comes, and downplay the disappointments.

Therefore, I have set only three goals for this Jubilee (I like this word meaning fifty years – just celebrate!) and they each have ties to my fiftieth year. *50 Blog Posts Written and Published

Everything Beautiful began in March of 2014.  In this almost two-year period, I wrote and published 48 blog posts. That number doesn’t sound so bad, and it is not bad for a beginning blogger.  I want to do more and reach more, so I must produce more.  Inspiration is no hindrance; I have 24 pages of thoughts, ideas, quotes, and outlines saved in a Word document.  Motivation is a hindrance; therefore, this is my reason for setting this particular goal.

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 *50 Projects Completed

My home studio, otherwise known as my craft room, also known as my crap room, is a hot mess.  After almost three years of some remodeling project or another with my studio being “the perfect just-for-now” place to keep displaced things, it is an overwhelming thought as to how I should go about planning and organization. With our home office as the last (hopefully!) re-do, I aim to be serious about redesigning and actually using my studio as a creative place instead of a catch-all.

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*50 Pounds Lost

I know, I know.  Everybody has “Lose weight” on their New Year’s Resolution List.  So does that make it wrong to include it in my goals?  No way!  I know that I have many, many health issues, and I know that losing weight may help alleviate some of the issues that accompany my issues.  (How many times can you use “issues” in the same sentence?)   I also know that losing weight will not cure any of my issues, except maybe for my obesity.  It will not be easy, it will not be fun, and it will not be painless.  I still need and want to do it, though, and that is enough reason for me.

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            In setting out to accomplish these goals, I know that there may be setbacks and failures, and I am telling myself, and you, that is okay.  I have heard it said that:

            I am starting now.