Perspective: Half Empty or Half Full?

So, I am well aware I missed two weeks worth of posts–believe me, Chadwick won’t leave me alone about it. But I have good excuses! Well, okay excuses. The week before last. . .well, I was just tired after and in between the holidays and had no energy left to expend on a post. And last week I got in a car accident on Tuesday, which instantly sucked out any remaining energy to write something. But don’t worry – all of you were still high in my thoughts!

Anyway, another thing Chadwick keeps reminding me of is that it is that time of year again. The time of year we get to set resolutions and goals that most likely won’t be fulfilled. Shall we take a look at last year’s?

1. Lose 20 pounds.
   • I actually gained 10
2. Write More: a.k.a, Write 2 books of 50,000 words each, get one thing published, edit DIL and submit for publication, and write the equivalent of three short stories a month. And, recently added, write a collaboration novel with some friends.
   • I wrote one 50k word book, didn’t get anything published, and probably wrote a TOTAL of three short stories. But I DID edit DIL and have been submitting it for publication.
3. Spend More Time in Prayer: reach an hour of dedicated prayer a week, about ten minutes a day.
   • Does sending up prayerful thoughts throughout the day count? Because I’m pretty sure that’s mostly what I did, especially the last couple months since I am ashamed to admit I didn’t even crack open my Bible for two months.
4. Be able to do 10 push-ups.
   • Finally!! Something I DID accomplish.
5. Write in blog on regular basis.
   • Other than the last two weeks, I think I did actually fulfill this one as well.
6. Learn Calligraphy.
   • Um. No.
7. Learn 15 constellations.
   • I learned three. . . and promptly forgot them.

My immediate thought, upon looking back at my apparent failures, was, “what’s the use?” But my secondary thought, which I think was actually God gently nudging Chadwick aside so He could encourage me was, “think of what you did accomplish”.

So for perhaps the first time, I’m not actually super disappointed in myself for not accomplishing even 90% of my goals. It’s all about perspective, right? So, let’s look at it a different way:

1. Lose 20 pounds.
   • While I did gain weight, the desire to get in shape prompted me to develop a workout program that I followed fairly faithfully from July – October, enough so that I have been able to, and even desired to, pick it up again this month after the holidays.
   • I also am now more confident in what I can accomplish. I know that I can hike further than I thought possible, and that I am refreshed by getting out on a trail. I know that I am perfectly capable of doing push-ups, and that, when I put my mind to it, I really can work out on a regular basis, and that I’m more likely to do so if it doesn’t involve a cardio video.
2. Write More:
   • I WROTE A 50K WORD BOOK – which needs to be finished, but is still 50k words! Not to mention the amount of words I wrote on other books. AND I finished editing another book and have gotten half a dozen rejections for it. If that isn’t progress in the writing world, I don’t know what is.
   • And if I didn’t get a short story published, it wasn’t for lack of trying and I have an entire spreadsheet of recorded rejections to prove it. And that is also a new accomplishment for me – the whole trying despite rejections.
3. Spend More Time in Prayer: reach an hour of dedicated prayer a week, about ten minutes a day.
   • While I didn’t increase my prayer time, my desire to spend more time with God did prompt me to join one of my church’s bible study groups for the first time in ten years.
4. Learn Calligraphy.
   • My attempt to work on my handwriting has at least improved it, even if I didn’t get through the book.
5. Learn 15 constellations.
   • Hey, learning three is more than I knew before, and now that I knew them once, I bet I could learn them again pretty fast!

So, all in all, even though I didn’t accomplish everything, or even most of what I technically said I was going to, it still did its job. . . the goals pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me move forward, however slowly, and that is an accomplishment I’m happy with.

How about you? Did any of your resolutions, intentions, or goals last year push you a little closer to ultimate goals?