New York | gardengoatquote | a goat's journey over life's mountains and molehills

I think 2014 will be a totally amazing year

Every year at this time it is always the same. Everyone is thinking about the past year and making a list of New Year’s resolutions (something I have never been a big fan of). I am not too sure why I have never been hung up on New Year’s resolutions…I just have not. By nature I dread anything that is too structured. I think a part of me thinks that if the item is carved in stone, I will feel terrible if I fail and then the rest of the year will be a write-off. (And, no…this is not new… I do NOT like lists of any kind…although as I approach “older goat” status and find myself frequently forgetful …I may have to relent and become more list friendly.)

… and think what my New Year’s list should be.

I am not a big fan of the process involved in change although I very much love the notion that change is possible. I do enjoy realizing how sometimes the smallest steps can make the biggest difference. So, I sit with pen in hand (okay keyboard…) and think what my New Year’s list should be. If I look at most people’s lists they are centered on healthy living …I guess I could start with that. Many of the items other people seem to list touch on stopping some habits and starting others. So this is what my list started to look like:

Stop being fluffy (gained 20 lbs over the last two years …2014 I need to say goodbye to the flab!)
Stop living in the past (love to remember how things were as a denial of how things really are)
Start drinking (yep…WATER…a confirmed, self-confessed Diet Coke addict over here)
Start walking (with the little dog that lives here…at least)

BORING!

Then I thought about a list of things I wanted to make sure I did.

Reconnect with a special friend I very much miss (hope this happens ASAP)
Sort out the miles of family photos and do something with them (even if only copy to a CLOUD)
Publish a book (Yep…watch for it)!

BETTER!

I then realized that there are other lists I had not thought about. Recently I learned about “Bucket Lists.” These are apparently lists you make of the top 100 things you want to do before you leave this planet. I have always been too busy to even think about what I might do in the next five minutes far less what I might do over my lifetime. I decided to give it a try. It was scary. The first five things looked like this.

Speed race a car on the Indianapolis raceway
Take pictures from the Eiffel tower
Walk through Central Park, in New York, at midnight…maybe stay the night!
Design a tattoo
Spend overnight in an igloo and tour the Arctic (read that as sneak away anywhere where my kids won’t go!)

…sneak away where my kids won’t go

Then came the realization I have the potential to be a lot wilder than I ever imagined. Figured I had better stop at Number Five as I was worried that developing the other 95 items might lead to my inner child to hyperactivity! Besides, taking care of the brood I preside over does not lend itself to the extra financial freedom required to avail oneself of a casual trip to the Eiffel Tower on any given day. All kidding aside, I thought “what is one thing that I can have as MY RESOLUTION for New Years?”

I reasoned that coming up with just one BIG item would get rid of the list, the remembering, the guilt …it is perfect. It is even green …I won’t have to even use paper to write it down. I can keep my resolution to myself as who would bother making a list of just ONE item to post on a fridge! (??) (Who am I trying to kid…forget the kitchen fridge…this goat publishes a blog!)

Now the quest to find that one item; it is not easy to compress all those points into one item. This one item will have to transcend ALL items. It must be ONE thing that makes everything else excellent. While lost in thought while checking my email (multi-tasking). There I found a blog post of a friend I come to know through social media training, PJ McClure. There in his blog, on Linked-In “Do What Is Right, Not Just What Is Allowed” (http://pjmcclure.com/blog/do-what-is-right/#!) was exactly what I was searching for.

I found my one item for the New Year 2014…make all decisions in 2014 by the highest standard available…DO WHAT IS RIGHT irrespective of the freedom to make other choices still considered as lawful and acceptable.