Wow! It has been more than two weeks since I last posted a blog. It is not that I have decided to stop blogging so much as being in survival mode and withdrawing from the world. Now it is time to come out of my shell and do some reflecting.
New Year Resolutions. I had planned on three: live within financial means, learn something new, practice a new mitzvot each month. The first one is the one that touches on my need for security and my fear of not having enough. The other two are just a couple of things I thought would be nice.
Then I got through January 2 and woke up to the fact that maybe there are other things more important than what I had planned.
1. Living within my means. For me, that means financially first, but I am coming to the realization that it could also mean other things, like recognizing my own needs, taking care of what I have, making responsible choices.
I have started recycling, which fits here, but there is so much more to do. I will plant a garden again this year, but I think first I will get the soil checked so that I can correct what defects it has to ensure a good crop.Then I will need to learn how to preserve or share my garden as, even last year, I had more than I could reasonably eat.
I will also take on the lawn care this year rather than pay someone else to do it for me. That includes the fertilizer and weed control applications.
And, I will make choices on spending to get my finances back within control. This past year, I supplemented with credit cards and savings account withdrawals. I need to find ways of reducing that with the goal by the end of the year of building the savings account rather than drawing from it. That will probably mean less dinners out for a while and cutting back on the leather runs and conferences.
2. Learning something new. My idea was to learn a language or photography. Between Ed and I, we had a lot of different cameras…some rather fancy, some old. I am not sure if any of them still work, but I would like to try to figure that out…and maybe find a way to use them. As far as languages go, I have Spanish, Italian, French courses on CDs, but whether I can use them with my current computer is the question. I also have beginning Hebrew texts. So…you can see, I do have possibilities for this resolution…which might not pan out at all…as they may no longer work.
But, learning something new does not have to be limited to these two ideas. It might be bread-making, tai chi, dancing…there are many possibilities. One thing I do know…to make a resolution a goal, one has to define the goal and set steps.
3. Practice a new mitzvot a month. I think this is the one that will change the most as it is the most undefined of my resolutions. It was originally thought to be an extension of my spiritual goal of 2018. However, I have been mulling over trying out new ways of volunteering. I am just not sure if any organization will accept a volunteer for 1 month. Guess it doesn’t hurt to ask. Some areas I have thought of volunteering in the past: horse rescue, ASPCA, library. And just the other day, one of the news organizations mentioned that they were open to volunteer investigators for consumer complaints.
Oh, well. Still mulling these around. More thoughts later.
Feathers of My Mind 