Onward into 2013!

I'm absolutely charged up about plunging into the new year.  In hindsight, it seems like the last year was largely a course correction for me, and like turning an ocean liner, it was a long, slow process.  I think I've been turning the ocean liner for the last couple of years, really - remaking yourself over 50 is a complicated job with a lot of moving parts, and we do get very resistant to change in our old age.

It was more about realizing what was not working than finding what did work, until the very end of the year when stuff started clicking into place.  People came into my life and handed me ideas, tools, pieces of the puzzle, and something clicked in me, too. I got real about what I needed to do to get to where I want to be.  Then I sat on my ass for the holidays.  Well, not quite. I spent the last couple of weeks plotting, scribbling, Goal Setting. 

I think I mentioned that my broker is amazing, and her concept of goal setting is NOT the corporate crapola I'd endured in my previous career, but is focused on the whole person - the radical concept that a happy person living a well balanced life will be more successful.  Doing her goal sheets during the holidays forced me to engage in more self-examination than I generally find pleasant, but left me feeling like I have identified the steps I need to take to move forward and break out of some ruts and patterns that have been holding me back.  I am ready to get to it.

So the plan for today is to put my house in order so I can start the new year feeling fresh and organized, and to make this soup. 

2013 will be a continuation of some things I did right in 2012 - I did (mostly) improve my diet, get more sleep, meet some great new people - and a course correction on some things that fell out of my life.   One of my resolutions is to knit more.  Seriously.

Knitting is part of my meditation practice. I don't do complicated knitting, though I do know how.  I prefer simple things like colorful afghans to lace shawls with 24-row pattern repeats that require lifelines. It's not just because I'm lazy, though that certainly is part of it - it's because I like to zone out when I knit. I don't like to think much beyond, "Oooh, pretty colors!"  I have an afghan for Miss D on needles right now, set aside for about the last month.  I'm going to pull that out later.  It's a lovely shade of pink that reminded me of cherry blossoms.  It's perfect meditation knitting.

Time to get started on my day.  Happy New Year!