OK, time for the requisite blog post about resolutions. You’ll notice that I’m a day late – clearly I have not chosen to work on my chronic tardiness this year. No, I made just one New Year’s Resolution and it was easy to keep: I vowed that on January 1 I would listen again to the message that Tony Campolo gave at our church back in October.

Done.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life, I have kept my New Year’s resolution perfectly. Booyah.

The message was one of the most inspiring that I’ve ever heard. I laughed. I cried. I bought the monthly sponsorship package from World Vision, which is probably more practical than a t-shirt.

The sermon was centered around a study of elderly folks who were asked what they wished they had done more in their lives. The three most common answers were:

1. Risk more.
2. Reflect more.
3. Give more.

After re-listening to the message, I am inspired to do all three. Now, given the fact that I listened to the message on New Year’s Day, it would be easy to turn these principles into further resolutions, but there is no way I’m going to ruin my perfect streak. So we’ll just call them “Life Goals”. For 2012.

Life Goal #1: Risk More

This was an interesting goal to just reflect on. What risks could I be taking in life? How can I risk more? It took me awhile to come up with an answer.

The first risk that I have to take is to step back from my store. My store is exhausting me – well, life in general is exhausting me. I am beyond tired right now. I know that I don’t work many hours in the shop – most weeks it’s just eight or nine – but the store is always on my mind. Did I respond to that email, can I call that person back quickly while the baby sleeps, did I update my web site inventory, which stock should I buy, why is this selling and not that, and so on.This year I just want to step back and let it be what it is. No more off-site demonstrations, no big expos, no more investing in new stock. The thought of scaling back this way terrifies me, and I’m afraid that the store will fail. But for my own sanity, its a risk I’m going to take.

The second risk I’m going to take is to start the process of becoming a Lactation Consultant. I truly believe this would be a great job for me, but the thought of starting more school is scary. I’m not sure why – it’s not really that much school, and I’ve kind of made a hobby out of continuing education – in fact, I’m very nearly done my Political Science degree which I ‘m doing more or less for fun. But the thought of starting yet another program – especially one out of my comfort zone – make me extremely nervous. But I’m going to do it. Biology class, here I come. Ugh.

Life Goal #2: Reflect More

One of the stories that Tony Campolo told during his message was of a reporter talking to Mother Teresa. The reporter asked what she says when she prays, and she replied, “Nothing, I just listen”. So he then asked what God says to her when she prays. She said, “Nothing, He just listens.” Sitting quietly, waiting to hear the voice of God. I wish I had the discipline to do that – I wish I had the time to try!

Each morning, I get up when my beautiful baby daughter feels its time to stab me in the face with her teeny fingers. Its hard to be angry though – she smiles so delightfully as she tries to blind me. Lately her naps have been poor and I only get her to sleep longer than 30 minutes if she is in the car seat (which means I’m driving) or in my lap (which means I’m immobile). No more spare moments for me during the day. And of course, her poor napping leaves her extremely tired at night, which ironically makes it harder for her to sleep well. I end up spending half the evening putting her back to bed while trying to get my older one settled at the same time. By the time they are both asleep, I’m wiped out and I can’t manage more than a bit of TV and some quick tidying (necessary, believe me).

I have to believe this is just a phase though, and soon enough I will have her sleeping well, leaving me time to write and to read and to just listen quietly.

Life Goal #3: Give More

The last part of the sermon was about being generous with our resources. Tony Campolo is good – after hearing him speak, I signed up to sponsor a child through World Vision. After hearing the message again yesterday, I was ready to sign up to sponsor a second child! Honestly, that podcast should have a warning attached. Instead though, I’ve decided to continue donating a portion of store sales to charities that have women-focused programs. In November and December, 5% of total store sales were donated to CARE Canada. I really liked the idea of moms here helping moms across the world; I’d like to keep that going for the rest of the year.

Life Goal #4: Create More

Well, this didn’t come up in the message, but while I was reflecting on ways to improve my life so that I have fewer regrets, I realized again that creating things is important to me,  whether that’s creating a cozy home for my family, knitting with my friends, or crafting with my kids. Creating things makes me happy, and so I want to be more intentional about finding time for it.

There you have it – one fulfilled New Year’s resolution and four subsequent goals for the year. In the coming weeks I’ll try and unpack each one a bit more, coming up with specific tasks to help me reach them (feel free to give me suggestions). But right now it’s late and I’ve only got one kid to sleep so far, so I’ll leave the details for another day and end by wishing you and your family a happy new year.