friday five: five of my goals for 2013

1. Write more. I've been stalking other peoples' blogs for quite some time now without doing any writing of my own. And I've had so many nights where I'm composing blog posts in my head as I'm falling asleep, things I want to share, things I want to process out as typed words instead of fleeting thoughts. I get inspired by blogs like this and this and this. I love these women who share their faith and families, inspiring and encouraging so many with their words. I'd love to return the favor, so here I am. I've often found myself struggling to add to my blog because I get tired of how it looks, but for now, I'll write and let the format change as I can.

2. Worry less. Yeah. This is going to be a big goal for me. Worry is the number one roadblock in my way of living the way God wants me to live. (There are other roadblocks, but this one is the behemoth.) When I lay my head down at night and stop the crazy whirlwind of crazy business that is my life, I worry. It's a bad, bad habit. Worrying does nothing to affect the outcomes, except that it makes me lose precious sleep, fogs my brain, and distracts me from all of the many positive things in my life. So since it is serving no useful purpose, I'd like to be rid of all that worry, or less of it at the very least.

3. Move more. My thoughts and emotions are constantly on the move, while my body is usually mostly stationary. When I move my body more, the inverse is true of my brain: I calm. It's after I've been on a run that I feel God's voice clearest in my heart, recognize the constancy of His promises. It's when I've shrugged off the couch in favor of helping the boys ride tricycles that I stop to enjoy their little moments and not spend them buried in my iPhone. My body also feels so much better and operates much more smoothly when I've treated it well and worked off some of those calories.

4. Spend less. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory: live within our means. 2012 was rough on our finances in a lot of ways, notably with the unsteadiness of Jason's income and unexpected medical expenses, and while we couldn't control some of the ways we had to spend money, a lot more choices were our own to make.

5. Enjoy more... of where I am right now. I'm a planner. I love to have the next 5 years of my life in clear view. I like to know what's coming next. (Stop laughing.) 2012 was all about learning that not only are my plans never set in stone, going with the flow and seeing the real plan God has for me is way richer, way better. It does mean giving up my tight little fist of control. I'm not so good with that yet. As this new year begins, so much of our lives is in flux: jobs, locations, schooling, finances. My nature is to be even more future-oriented, trying to plan out the next step so that everything will be okay. But my plans are so... HUMAN. And LIMITED. And in retrospect, I see the rather amazing journey God has taken me on, the paths He made for me vs. the paths I would have chosen myself, had it all been up to me, and I'm like, WHEW. And in the meantime, there are all these wonderful things to celebrate and enjoy and experience RIGHT. NOW. Like my two kids. And my husband. And a million other awesome things about where I am RIGHT. NOW. The future can take care of itself.

What are your goals for 2013? I'd love to hear them.