2019 Reflections and 2020 Vision!
I actually really love the New Year holiday. A lot of people I know scoff at New Year's resolutions and goals but for me, there is something really motivating and invigorating about spending some time reflecting on the previous 12 months and then resetting the focus, intentions, and goals for the year ahead. While I don't believe you have to wait for a new year to start a new goal, I do believe that thinking about where you want to be a year from now and thinking about what you want to have accomplished on the next December 31 is really valuable. After the hecticness of the holidays, it feels so revitalizing to have a new crisp page on the calendar and a fresh 12 months stretching out before you like a clean slate. There is an upbeat sense of being filled with a new hope, of possibility, and of a refocusing on the opportunity to make strides in our constant evolution toward becoming all that God intends us to be. I have become a bigger believer in setting concrete goals and writing them down so that they can be measured later. Some goals I can actually put a check beside while others go back on the list for 2020....but either way this time of reflection is something that has become important to me at the close of each year.
In looking back on 2019, I have to say as the old song goes...."I Won't Complain." Every single day for these past 365 days God has provided all I've needed and then some. I'm ending this year with every family member and loved one I started with. He's been healing my mom from cancer and kept her with us. He gave me increased happiness with my work situation and allowed me opportunities to hopefully impact lives through working with kids and being a trainer at CG. I was blessed to be strong and healthy enough to do what I love running all year long and through that had some really incredible moments....from running across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to participating in the world's most iconic marathon in NYC. I got to see some beautiful new corners of the world this summer in Jamaica and Grand Cayman and Mexico and I got to spend my 40th birthday with the people who love me most. I even made a bit of progress on getting a better handle on my finances (though there is still so much room to improve in that area). I'm definitely in a much better place than I was when the decade started in 2010....that's FOR SURE!!! I'm in a much better space emotionally, physically, spiritually, and especially in the relationships and people I have around me. Yet even as I reflect on that progress, I know there is still so much room to grow going into this new decade and into this first year of my 40's. There is some baggage I still haven't dealt with from those not so great years, some damage that still needs fixing, and some potential that hasn't been tapped. But I'm hopeful that 2020 is going to be a year of making some major strides toward that growth and toward breaking free from some things that have long been holding me back.
So on this last day of 2019....I'd like to document the "wins" of the past year and then put into writing the "areas of opportunity" and goals for the one that starts tomorrow....just so that next December 31 I can do this again!
WINS:
1) Running 1210 miles
2) Setting a new PR in the half-marathon and full marathon
3) Completing 12 races including the NYC Marathon
4) Reading 50 books
6) Getting the chance to take 3 trips with friends
7) Successfully completing an entire year in Duncanville ISD and CG
GOALS for 2020:
2) Run a sub 3:40 in Berlin to qualify for Boston
3) Run a new half-marathon PR (sub 1:48)
4) Run 1500 miles or more
5) Develop and start making a profit with travel/runcation business
6) Grow CG locations to at least 55 Bold members
7) Develop deeper relationship with God through DAILY Bible study, prayer, and focus on serving others
8) Less time on social media and more time living and loving others in person!
2019....you were a good chapter and one I'm thankful for. But I'm so looking forward to making 2020 an AMAZING one with God's continued help! 20/20 vision...I'm ready!