Looking ahead

Hopefully this time next year I can look back and feel more accomplished in my attempts. But it’ll take a lot of work and some different choices to strive towards meeting those goals.

Looking back on last year, I don’t know if many of my goals for the year were met. But it’s a new year.

One of my biggest goals that I’m “reusing” for this year is to read more. First, I’d like to spend more time reading my Bible. But I’d also like to go through the books I bought last year and try to read a chapter a night to hopefully get through several books this year.

The biggest obstacle to reading more is TV. I have gotten into the habit or watching a show or two (or more) before going to bed instead of reading. I can even recognize the difference in quality of sleep I get when I watch TV before bed versus reading something before bed. I fall asleep better and I sleep better throughout the night when I choose to read. So I need to continue making the choice to read instead of watching TV before bed.

Decluttering

A new goal I’ve just started working on is cleaning out my closet and pantry. As we started the initial work of figuring out where to live and what we each are bringing to our future home, my fiancé and I realized we both have a lot of stuff. Stuff we don’t use, stuff we don’t want, stuff we have too much of … so my first area is the kitchen, going through everything and getting rid of what doesn’t work, giving away what doesn’t get used and working together to make sure we have what we need and can work towards what we want. Next, I’ll tackle the closet and the dressers.

I know I’ve mentioned before that I tend to live in what feels like a constant state of chaos and clutter, and I don’t notice its effect on my mental state until I’ve taken the time to clean and organize. And I am still living in the effects of all my travel at the end of last year. So this year I’d like to set up a schedule for keeping my home (and office space) tidy.

One of the things I tried last year that worked for some of my tasks at work is setting up recurring reminders. I’ll use that feature for this endeavor too. I use the reminders app on Apple devices, but using a calendar notification would work too. Setting the schedule and spreading it out so that it isn’t too overwhelming to try and get done all at once will hopefully keep me on track and contribute to a calmer and cleaner state.

That’s my look ahead to this year. I have my goals. Hopefully this time next year I can look back and feel more accomplished in my attempts. But it’ll take a lot of work and some different choices to strive towards meeting those goals.

Hannah Muñoz is a regular contributor to The Scroll. She also is the digital editor for The Alabama Baptist/TAB Media. She graduated from Samford University in 2017 and is a member of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham.

Share:

Get The Scroll in your inbox!