Worth a Look? Recap of 2020 Goals

      

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     What's the saying? We plan; God laughs? I shake my head that last year in late December I dared to set goals for 2020. Silly me. Still, I though perhaps a look back at any progress might be motivation to lean into my hopes in 2021. I'm not using the G word for 2021, but here were my sort of goals last year. Last year in November, I was dealt a bit of a health scare. Fortunately, the worst was ruled out. It should have been better motivation for a healthier year. 

• Get my own health-weight, blood pressure, sleeping, knee strength in a better place
• I have not lost any weight
• My knee has as many bad days as before, but I did do a lot more walking this year
• I have not had a "live" doctor visit other than when I ended up in the ER, and then  had a throat procedure, but my blood pressure was good then, even with the added stress so that was a positive.
• Better self care such as coloring my hair and getting trims and cuts as they need, not when I get around to it. Same with my nails-keep them short and manageable, but with a pop of color, which I do enjoy the look of. 
• Shall we all just laugh together! I colored my hair one time in 2020, right before the outside socially distanced baby shower for my niece. Even my sister asking me why my hair was blue (blue in a painting reflecting off my gray hair) didn't prompt me to color more often. 
• I've done my nails a handful of times, and right now, I have a pop of red. 
  
  
  
• Continue to develop and nurture friendships, new and old. It is hard to make new friends and it seems just as hard to keep old friendships going as we get older. I will keep saying yes to more things, and initiate actions so my friends know they are important to me. 
• Oh man, this is a sad one to write about. We all suffered from our lack of social connectedness. I miss the Wednesday Trivia, and was going to  have a girls evening on a regular basis. 
• I met friends for socially distanced walks by the river or a regional park and once met friends outside at their house, spread out. 
• I joined a virtual book club, that hopefully will transition to a live book club, with a group of  newer friends
• Prioritize spending on things that give us joy or are an investment in our future. I want to fully fund the Roth, and have a cash range of saving a minimum of $6,000 to a stretch cash savings of $23,000. This all depends on DH's work status. Regardless, as I wrote about on Friday, belt tightening is an essential 2020 habit. 
• With all the unknowns, we just were too scared to tie up $13,000 in the Roth by July 15th. We still were on precarious grounds with DH's earnings, still had college tuition, and DSs industry was no where near ready to open by then. We kept cash close, and may regret the decision, but at the time, felt like the best. 
• Both of us maxed our 401 K, though it took DH longer than 2019 to reach the goal. 
• I even put the piggy bank on the shelf. It didn't seem right to celebrate any success or bemoan any financial blips when we at least had savings and resources to weather the hard times. 
• This year we most definitely tightened our belt, but more so from circumstance than deliberate and intentional avoidance of spending. I saved no less than $120 a month on gas without commuting, not to mention the added life to my car to save money down the road. My no waste mantra (which I need to get back) kept our growing  grocery budget  a bit more in control, and despite buying take out, we had no other expenses on entertainment. 
• We learned to embrace simple activities as entertainment, and when we are free to move about the cabin, will keep many of them in place, but hopefully involving more people.
• Fall vacation week at the cabin, including taking advantage of local parks
• Meeting friends and my daughters for walks and meaningful conversation
• The joy of back yard fires
• Card and board games
• Trying new foods, drinks, and more cooking experiments
• Playing tennis, bike riding, skateboarding (not me)
• Invest in my own gifts and talents. We all have them. I might not be the best writer and I am a horrid photographer, but both give me joy, and I will strive to spend more time on both. 
• I took a couple wanders with my camera-one on a super hot, hot day, and took pictures of country churches and landmarks. 
• I pretty much have set the silliness of the book aside because it is in very rough shape and I don't know how to fix it. 
• I blogged with much more regularity-almost daily, so sorry if too frequent for you all. 
• Greet each day with possibilities rather than look for problems. I can get pessimistic, often. But there is opportunity in challenge, and strength in overcoming adversity. I want to reflect each night on what was achieved. 
• Isn't this what we all did, had to do in 2020 to make it bearable? 
• I think to what was accomplished on my job and think wow, I really met the required lift, not perfectly, but better than I would have ever imagined was possible.

     I shared a few days ago that for 2021 there will not be goals, but hopes for a positive year for myself, family, and friends. I think being motivated and having things to strive for are still a good thing as it gives me focus. This year taught me though that so many things of life are beyond control no matter how hard we might work towards achieving more or different. For 2021, I hope I know the difference.