The 2014 Plan that Didn't Happen - Or Did It?

How do you like that for a nice long title?  

My gut reaction when I thought about what to write to wrap up 2014 on my blog was what a failure my "goals" turned out to be.  However, to keep things fair I sat down this morning and read over my goals post from the beginning of the year and had to admit I wasn't a complete failure this year.  

Join me in reviewing my 2014 Post:

This year ... 

• I WANT to begin really learning some basic photography with my new DSLR camera.  I did learn a few more tips and tricks with my camera, though I did not get out my "DSLR for Dummies" book like I'd hoped to. 
• I WANT to clean up clutter spots around my house and stay better organized with my time. I did get better at keeping clutter spots cleaned up more often, and I worked on organizing my time better.  December was my busiest/most stressful month, but even then I made time to clean up easily cluttered areas when they got out of control.  

• I NEED to continue to pay off our credit card and be smarter with frivolous spending.  My plan is to make envelopes for things like hair/makeup and gifts to put money away for those needs and then stick to what's in there.  Unfortunately, some things came up and our credit card was used.  ugh.  BUT..I did buy a mini accordion style envelope used for coupons, label each slot and started using it to some extent to put money away for future things like birthdays, etc.  It worked well when I used it.  
• I NEED to eat better quality food, more of the time.  No major changes here.  In fact, quite the opposite.  

• I will SHARE my life with my husband...again.  And I will enjoy what we learned during deployment. Reintegration back into our normal life hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be.  I was "single" for nine months last year and got a little used to having everything my way. Yikes.  :)  Actually....this has gone well.  We were back to normal soon enough;  just like I'd been told would happen.  My surgery and mother's death last January actually brought us closer together in ways I'm not sure could've been orchestrated any other way. 

• I will SUCCEED at reaching 150 pounds.  BIG FAT FAIL, in-the-negative fail...as I gained weight this year.  
• I will SUCCEED at prioritizing my time and completing to-do's and projects in a more timely manner.  (I'm the queen of procrastination...)  I did try and work on this, so I am giving myself a green light.
• I will SUCCEED at continuing my running.  I have no race goals, but I plan on doing at least one or two 10K's and possibly a half marathon.  A family vacation this summer may prevent me from training for the half, so I'm not committing to that just yet.  :)  When I read this I realized I'm not as much a failure as I feel like (because of the weight gain).  I actually completed the two 10K's I'd hoped to run and just yesterday I went out for a 4-mile run to see how my wonky knee would hold up.  I'll be writing about that soon.  It went well, even if it was slow.  So, I did exactly what I planned this year.  I kept running.

So... even though I would look at my list on my dresser and feel like a huge failure for not sticking to a healthy eating plan, losing more weight after surgery and have a masterpiece of a financial plan working smoothly, I have to admit that this year wasn't as much a bust as I thought it was.  

If nothing else, I think this year I learned having a plan can be a funny thing.  It is good to have some goals, but it is also good to be able to bend with life.  I feel like I got the wind knocked out of me this year;  rightly so -- it was a rough year for me.  However, I also feel ready to fight back.

One of my biggest mantras is I will not give up.  I still feel that way.  I can't let a rough set of events return me to an unhealthy, unhappy woman.  Life threw some blows, I got knocked down, I've had to recover, but I'm not out forever.  Little by little I'm getting back up.

For today, the last day of this year, I'm going to clean house and celebrate the 17th birthday of my twin daughters.  Wish me luck -- they are having a couple friends sleep over tonight and then we are going shopping in the bigger city tomorrow as their birthday party.  Oh, and we're throwing a New Year's Eve party tonight..and I still have pine needles all over my living room floor.  lol

Whee! It's going to be a wild next 24-36 hours.  :-)  

Have a safe and Happy New Year!