2010 - Resolute

Consider this my obligatory New Year's resolutions post...

2010 - The Year Of:

1. Financial Freedom. Student loans, car loans, credit cards. This will be the first year of my life in which I'll be both completely financially independent and debt free. For now that means work, work, and more work. So far? Both maintainable and even enjoyable! But there's a line between working hard to achieve your goals and being defined by your work... The trick will be staying on the right side of it!

2. Creativity. I find myself wishing more and more often that the right half of my brain were occasionally capable of producing something worthwhile. Photography, guitar, cooking, blog posts, date ideas, my spiritual walk, even engineering - practically every area of my life can greatly benefit from thinking outside the box. I've got more thoughts on this one... perhaps someday it will get it's own post!

3. Action. Apathy, boredom, and laziness are some of my greatest enemies. Being a left-brain-half type of guy, I thoroughly enjoy taking lessons from physics and applying them to other aspects of life, and here's a perfect opportunity - Conservation of Momentum. 'Things in motion tend to stay in motion; things at rest tend to stay at rest.' I'm the same way. Every time I choose to go the lazy route (sleeping in instead of going to church, movie marathons instead of investing in relationships, etc), the next time it's going to be a little bit easier to do it again. Or, conversely, every time I confess that 'my' time is not my own and instead use it in light of eternity, it gets a little bit easier. This will be a year of action.

4. Guitar Naming. These seemed to be getting longer, so it's time for a shorter one! Jasmine had her name the day I drove her off the lot, but I've had my guitar for 6 years, and she still has no name. It's time for that to change. Any suggestions? She's an Ovation, and while alliteration is cool, 'O' doesn't provide a whole lot of options... Olga is already out. And preferably nothing too cheesy, like Harmony or Melody or something.

5. Discernment. This last one is more out of necessity. At this point, everything more than ~9 months out is pretty foggy. Perhaps life then will be practically indistinguishable from life now - same church, same job(s), same living with friends. Then again, I often feel the time is coming for some radical changes... But what, when, with who, and for how long?? Sometime before this year is over, I'd like at least a few glimpses of what the following year could have in store.

Always have a plan; rarely stick to it.