Happy Birthday to Me, Happy New Year to You

Over the years, I've adopted a few odd traditions for my birthday celebration. As a New Year's Day baby, you can't help but make some up, or you'll be lost in the tidal wave of global revelry.

The first tradition, begun when I was quite small, was to stay up until midnight. I can remember being 6 years old and sneaking down the staircase so that I could peer through the railings at the living room television. I was still cloaked in the darkness from the upstairs hallway, and my parents (usually fast asleep on the couch by then) were either unaware of my lurking state or they just didn't mind. I'd wait for those last few minutes when Dick Clark would begin the countdown. 3-2-1! I'd silently cheer and grin. At last, it really was my birthday. Then I'd creep back up the stairs and slip back into bed and dream of all things I might just get, come party time.

The second tradition came as a natural evolution from the first. Why not believe the whole world was shouting "Birthday!" instead of "New Year!"? It was the same amount of syllables after all. The problem came when I'd shout it top-lung to my friends at parties. *oops* I meant, Happy New Year, sort of. It makes it feel like the whole world is celebrating my life, which is admittedly very egotistical, but it's one of the few delusional joys of my life and I'm not giving that up any time soon.

The last tradition came when I started doing some researching on the global traditions for New Year's Eve. I found many that involved jumping. There seemed to be something exhilarating and liberating about making a clean break between what was and what would come. It is an Anne of Green Gables kind of thing for me- Marilla leaning in towards Anne and reminding her that tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. Nice spiritual metaphor there, too, I think.

I was with a good friend of mine when I decided to implement this tradition. Now she tends to only make big leaps in the non-physical sense, and I tend to be a scaredy cat when it comes to potential physical pain, so we decided that the distance jumped didn't matter, so long as an actual jump is made. I believe on that night she jumped off a book and I jumped off the sofa. Depending on my agility levels, it'll be higher or lower, but I always include a "leap" into my New Year now.

I know some don't get hung up on birthdays, traditions, or New Year resolutions- but they all roll together for me. This is not just the start of 2011, it is the start of year 36 of my life. And if I don't have clear goals- how will I know where to head?

However, I am also one who, like so many, finds herself just weeks after the start of a new year- wondering how I got so off track, so quickly. My solution, for the last two years, has been to generalize my goals, and to make them part of working towards my calling.

Whatever do I mean?

Well, it goes something like this:

-Love God well. Take time to read the Bible, take time to pray, take time to be still and listen.
-Love my husband well. Take time for just him. Listen to him. Let the things that bring him joy, bring me joy, and let the things that worry him, worry me. An earnest effort not to let him slip to back-burner status.
-Love my family well. Take time for my children. Hear what they tell me. Play with them. Love on them. Yell less. Be a good example for them.
-Write. It doesn't matter if I accomplish my writing goals that I set, but I must keep writing, and I must keep consulting the giver of gifts and the giver of inspiration (God), so that I don't inadvertently end up burying the talent given to me.
-Be a good friend. It's that time thing again. Not letting e-mails sit. Remembering to ask about their lives, and then making sure I listen to them and pray for them.
-Be well. In spirit, in physical, and in emotional health. It's not enough to love others and not take care of myself. If I am unwell, then I can't love others well, and I won't be equipped to do what God asks of me.

Do I ever manage to meet my goals? They ebb and flow over the course of the year. I'll look at my list (posted on the back side of my medicine cabinet mirror) and think- hey, go me- I'm actually doing 3 of these well. And I need to remember to take time for this or that. But it's never perfect, and I never manage to do all things on my list at the same time. But I never fail, because I'm always succeeding at one or more areas. These are all things God calls me to, and all things God helps me to do. God honors the intent that comes with action or failed action.

This year, I'm keeping my same goals for the third year in a row. But, in addition to that, I'm taking a more standard approach and following in my dear friend Joanne's blog-steps, and will be posting once a month- both my goals for the next month and accounting for what did or didn't happen. A kind of goal reconciliation, if you will.

You saw my list of goals for my life in 2011, now my list of next month's writing goals:

January Goals

- Edit next 1/3 of Back of My Hand
- Submit next article for Purpose
- Find 3 places to submit Midwife to Christmas
- Submit 3 blog entries a week
- Enter FaithWriter’s Challenge 1-2 times

So that's my big writing leap for this year- posting public goals and being accountable.

I want to thank all of you for taking the blog leap with me in this last year and supporting me by reading and following. And I appreciate all of the comments that have come along the way. I'm looking forward to a new year, and a new adventure, and looking forward to it- with you.

Happy New Year, friends.


p.s. I've added a picture of my medicine cabinet goals. In case you're curious, it's as easy as buying chalkboard paint and painting the backside of your medicine cabinet. Oh, and that's not a misspelled word- it says: healthy spirit, relations (not relactions), body :) it looks funny from far away.