Happy New Year!!! (2016) Resolutions? Goals?

I started off the year by getting a migraine.  No, I wasn’t out past midnight, and I don’t think I ate anything to trigger it, but I DID have a migraine.  I was extremely fortunate that I had recently seen my neurologist and had gotten a refill on my medications.  The meds took care of the overwhelming headache, but for some strange reason the “reserve” symptoms did not go away… even as I write this, I continue to have a few of the “special” symptoms that go hand in hand with a migraine.

First and foremost, the smells!  Ugh!  I put a coffee scented wax cube into my Scentsy warmer, and stayed in my bedroom all day.  It sounds like a prison sentence, but it turned out all for the best.  I decided that yesterday was my New Year’s start to a more organized…. well, a slightly more regulated… I dumped out all of the drawers of my end table onto the bed and began sorting and organizing.  I can’t believe how much stuff I can shove into a drawer!  I asked my husband to buy me a new address book and after I set up my end table up in a way I thought would be used most effectively, I crawled back into bed with a pen, my new address book, my seven old address books, a hundred or so letters and cards that I’ve collected through the years which have different addresses that hadn’t been added to one of the address books yet.  So yesterday, I completely cleaned out my bedside table, organized it, and got my new address book in order all while listening to an audio book.

I am not a resolution maker, but I do believe in setting goals.  Goals are something you can see getting done.  You make a goal.  You set a time limit for that goal.  Now you break down that time limit into pieces and set new mini goals.  The most difficult thing about the mini goals are when you miss a deadline.  What if you get sick one day and cannot accomplish your goal?  Or your family member gets sick for 3 days and you cannot meet the target you have set?  A lot of people become overwhelmed and think they have to try and catch up all at one time.  That type of thinking can crush you and submerge your resolve.

The tricks to setting goals are to be realistic and that if you don’t accomplish what you have set out to do in the time period allotted is to either reset your goals and have a better understanding of reality or know that you just need to pick up exactly where you left off.  Don’t think you have to play catch up!  That is dangerous to our self worth.  One of my acquaintances decided to home school her two children and set goals for everything she wanted them to accomplish and even more for her to attain.  She asked her husband to put them into a spreadsheet for her so she could arrange everything into time blocks for them all.  It wasn’t until she saw it all on paper that she believed what others were telling her.  She had too many objectives.  The chart allowed her one hour of sleep per night and four hours of sleep for her children.  You have to be realistic and pick and choose what really matters most to you in life and what is most beneficial for your family.

So you want to start a new quilt?  How big is it  going to be?  Do you already have the materials?  Do you already know how to do the techniques?  Are you joining a block of the month?  Sometimes it means setting aside one hour every Monday evening to get your block of the month accomplished… or spending 15 minutes each day… pressing fabric, cutting pieces, piecing or pinning.  Everything takes time.  If you don’t know how to do the art of applique and you want to have a queen sized quilt ready in three months for a wedding gift/ graduation present/ whatever, then you will have a problem.  Practicing your craft and learning new methods is just as important as setting goals.  In fact those might be your goals!  Whatever your goals are and wherever you are starting at is crucial to actually finishing something and having something to show for it.  Remember!  If you get side tracked for a while, just pick up right where you left off.  Don’t play catch up.  If you set a goal and don’t reach it, then know you are farther ahead than if you had never set a goal to begin with.  It doesn’t matter what the goal is… saving money, learning a new language, crafting, losing weight, starting your own business.  Just be realistic, don’t beat yourself up or allow others to demean you and your efforts, and most importantly try.  Happy New Year.  2016… my goal year to glean, routine, and the sewing machine.