I’m more excited than ever for it to be a new year. A fresh start feels good, and I think it’s about time I really started acting like the adult I’ve inevitably become. There had been a lot of push and pull in 2015, in so many different areas of my life. I’m still trying to piece together the things I really want, and the things that I need to grow out of. It’s hard to keep focused on goals when you can’t focus on anything for more than five minutes.
December was a strange month for me. As I’m usually thrilled about the holiday season, this year felt more stressful than usual and it almost overshadowed all of the wonderful things I enjoy about Christmas. It’s been a little shaky to say the least, but I’m beginning to find a new normal, slowly but surely.
I have a lot of new goals for myself for this year as a whole, like moving in to my own place and seeing a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. But as far as my 101 in 1001 challenge goes, I need to start making some serious dents in some areas or else they might be left out completely. Before I get too far into where I want to go, let me go through my last recap of 2015.
Completed will be bolded. In Progress will be italicized. Incomplete items will stay normal.
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Start date: May 15, 2015
End date: February 9, 2018 {8 COMPLETE, 93 TO GO} |
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1. Inspire at least 5 people to do this list at well! {4/5}
6. Do at least 10 random acts of kindness. {4/10} 8. Have a conversation with 20 strangers {19/20} 46. Go to at least 10 concerts. {5/10} Dopapod [12.5.15], Basslights [12.19.15], NYE 360 [12.31.15] 47. Try 15 new restaurants. {7/15} Moxie Burger [12.22.15] 66. Watch 10 classic movies that I haven’t seen before. {2/10} Good Will Hunting 77. Reconnect with 5 friends I don’t talk to often enough. {3/5} 79. Publish 100 posts on my blog. {45/100} 44, 45 88. Take a night class with my friend Lindsey. 95. Add 20 records to my vinyl collection. {7/20} another eternity - Purity Ring (2015), Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin (1975), Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991), Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999), Songs You Know By Heart - Jimmy Buffett (1985) |
I’m exceptionally thrilled that my brother Joey, his wife Kristen, and my cousin Sarah have all begun their own 101 in 1001 challenges (and my mom is almost done writing hers!). I’m not sure if they have plans to publish their progress, but I will definitely share their lists if I have the opportunity. I’m proud of them for jumping in after their goals and for coming up with so many ideas to help themselves and the world around them. If you make a list of your own (which you totally should!), be sure to let me know so I can update the number of dominos I’ve knocked over in terms of motivating others!
I went to three amazing concerts in December, and I really really want to recap each one of them in their own post so I’m going to hold back here. Let’s just say New Year’s Eve was yet again the best concert I’ve ever seen, you’ll have to check back to see why!
My lovely friend Lindsey and I went out to dinner the other week at Moxie Burger in Roswell. It’s a delicious craft burger joint that lets you build whatever masterpiece you can think of. Once again, I’ll be doing a Foodie Exploits post on this at some point so check back for that! And, Lindsey and I will be taking a night class this month as part of her Christmas present! We’re going to be learning how to make jewelry, and I’m pretty excited about it! I’ve seen so many wire-wrapped jewelry pieces at concerts lately and I really want to know how to make them myself. I can't wait to jump into a new skill, and I’m sure I’ll be telling you all about it!
I finally saw Good Will Hunting, and it totally wasn’t what I thought it would be like at all, but in a good way. Robin Williams had some of the best roles in movie history, and I definitely would add this one to a list of favorite movies. I’ll need to watch it again, just to make sure ;).
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And, I’m very excited that my vinyl collection is filling out nicely! I bought myself a Purity Ring album (limited edition clear vinyl!) which I found while looking for a Christmas gift for my friend Emily. She’s really the one who got me into Purity Ring, but I loved the vinyl so much that just I had to get two of them. Check out her insanely cool picture of christmas lights shining through the clear vinyl! Christmas also brought more special vinyl for my collection, two Red Hot Chili Peppers vinyls, and Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti (shout out to Joey for the NYC flashback!).
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On top of that, my mom brought out a bunch of my grandparents’ old Christmas music vinyl and we listened to some, which was pretty awesome to say the least (Frank Sinatra was my favorite one!). This led my uncle to go find his old vinyl collection and he ended up lending me a stack including some Grateful Dead, Aerosmith, Eagles and Yes. If that wasn’t cool enough, he gave me his vinyl copy of Songs You Know By Heart, one of Jimmy Buffett’s greatest hits albums. This album was my soundtrack while growing up and spending summers by the ocean, and the songs mean so much to me. I love that it has such a special place in my collection now.
Alright, now that December is out of the way I am going to do my best to clear my head and focus on one thing at a time. I need to learn from my past mistakes, like messing up my first year of college by not focusing on the right areas in my life, and not mess up my first year of adulthood by doing the same thing. Work isn’t hard, sacrifice is. I've been battling with opportunity cost, am I really using my time the best I can? I always feel like I need more time to accomplish things. Like having the free time to run a blog website, or maybe work out, or spend time with friends. I’ll figure it out, I’m sure. But it will take some disappointing people, which is an ugly reality that I wish weren’t so. I make promises too easily but I know that I have to really get my life in order before I can offer to help anyone else. I have a pretty solid idea of where I want my career to go and I can’t get there if I’m not focused on basic life requirements like sleeping, exercising or eating enough.
I’m ready for 2016, and I’ve been ready for this year for a long time. The first full year after graduating college. The first New Year of my actual adult life. I have every opportunity to live out the life I envision. And I’m going to make it happen. It’s not easy to make changes in your life, especially when you’ve become so used to doing things a certain way, but I believe this is worth it. Let’s see where it goes! Until next month, I challenge you to brainstorm goals that you’d like to see yourself accomplish in the next year. It doesn’t have to be 101, but it wouldn’t hurt to have your short-term goals listed out so that you can remind yourself of them from time to time. Here’s to 2016, the year of opportunity!
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