goals

Well this year was pretty shitty huh? Horrible natural disasters like the hurricanes and wild files, White nationalists emboldened, the greed of our politicians, the dismantling of all of the good things done by prior administrations, obvious evidence of Russian collusion while much of the country just sticks its head in the sand, oh and all the sexual assault cases. All in all it’s been a disaster of a year in those regards. On the bright side, I personally have had a decent year with myself and my family. But how did I do on my goals for the year?

Create instead of Consume

Abject failure. Seriously, I’ve been so depressed about the state of the world that I’ve escaped more into entertainment than ever just to avoid it. I’ve spent a lot of time playing Gears of War 4 and other games on my Xbox. It’s been a good stress relief, but hasn’t lead itself to creating anything of value.

Declutter and Organize More

Knocked this one out of the park. Alphabetized the music collection and put it on shelves, donated a ton of old clothes that no longer fit, cleaned up the photo libraries, totally cleaned the man cave including the tub which had become a filthy storage facility for junk. I still want to do more, but I feel very accomplished here.

Concentrate on Health

Another one I’m proud of. I’ve used the app “Lose It!” to count calories and for the year I’m down about 40 pounds. I didn’t use any pyramid scheme shakes and alkaline crap that it seems many of my old high school classmates are pushing. I just ate whatever I wanted, but when I hit my calorie count for the day, I quit eating. No exercise at all, although I made sure to hit my move and stand rings on the Apple Watch. I feel better and breathe better and don’t want to go back. I’ll definitely keep it up this next year.

Be Vigilant

I haven’t seen anything to defend so much in the wild because I live in a diverse city that isn’t so closed minded. I have had to defend black lives matter and the fact that NFL players have the right to kneel for the anthem, and more importantly WHY. So when I’ve heard folks denigrate that, I have spoken up. Luckily I haven’t had to fight much more than that.

Pick My Battles Online

I’ve done well here. I’ve avoided jumping into battles online for the most part. I don’t see a point any longer, and I only really jumped in when things like Charlottesville happened. For the most part, I’ve tried to make my Facebook reflect happy things in my life. My family, great photos, funny situations. I’ve been happier there removing the vitriol for the most part. So, another goal I did well on.

Most years I’ve done a pretty poor job of hitting these goals, but I’m pleased with how I did this year. I’ve got ideas for next year that are more specific and I think I may actually accomplish. Here’s hoping the world does better as well.