Time to administer CPR!

It's a new year; a clean slate. It's definitely time to revive this lifeless blog! It's been a year and a half - gasp! - since I have written anything. It seems I have been so busy surviving that I wasn't writing. 2017 wasn't stellar. It wasn't a total loss but, admittedly, I was not sorry to see it go. I truly hope with my heart that 2018 will be a better year for my tribe. A year we can enjoy instead of endure. A year we turn the corner on financial pitfalls and see some windfalls. A year we will remember fondly and begin to miss at midnight on December 31st. 

2017 had it's moments. We spent a week in Kauai this summer. We chose birthday week when the kids and I all turn another year older in rapid fire succession. It was definitely the high point of the year. Both kids also took to stand-up jet-skiing which was a long awaited wish of my husband. We spent many weekends at the lake burning through tanks of fuel as the kids honed their skills. Todd would often just sit on the shore and watch his happy tribe with sheer joy inside. His kids enjoy something he loves and life doesn't get much better than that!

The flip-side was the typical lack of time and money. So much to do, so little time and so little cash to make it happen. The deck out front is still not built though that was the first thing on my summer to-do list. I skipped right past it and went to cleaning and purging closets and drawers. I think I dawdled a bit too much this year. Overwhelmed by the many things I needed to tackle that I ended up with my head in the sand wishing all responsibility away. This year I have a different plan. I actually have goals.

I don't make New Year's resolutions because I feel I am a continual work in progress. Instead, I make goals. This year I made SMART goals. The benefit of working in educational publishing is continual learning. Thanks to a book we publish I have learned that goals should be:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-limited

My first goal is to purposely walk, run, or hike 750 miles this year. There is a goal buzzing around Facebook to do 1,000 miles. My goal slides right into the Achievable requirement. I believe I can accomplish 14.5 miles a week. Maybe next year I can try for 1,000 but I don't want to set myself up for failure right out of the gate. I want to keep moving not disappoint myself with defeat the first week. 1,000 miles would require almost 20 miles a week. While I will probably log that with the additional walking I do on campus, my goal is for the 750 miles to be purposeful. I will purposely run miles each week to attain my goal - I will not gain miles while doing something else. 

My second goal it to spend time with God each day. I do so much better in life when I am square with God. Instead of throwing prayers up to the sky and treating God like a genie, I really want to delve into my beliefs and get rooted and solid in my faith. I have not given God any respectable amount of time this year and that I something I would like to change with daily devotionals. 

My third and final goal - so far - is to achieve my sales goal this year at work. This year will close as my second miss in as many years. The reps I work with are very focused on selling the portion of the list I don't cover so I need to work extra hard this year to make my list more relevant to them. I also need to take the initiative and work accounts where I see opportunities. Higher education is a changing industry but I do believe we are doing good work in educating the future. Students need to be challenged and not spoon-fed. I never want to have surgery performed by someone that learned medicine from accessible material. I want them to have been challenged and to have prevailed. 

So that's where I stand on this third day of 2018. I raise my coffee cup in cheers and hope that it is a good one!