My Most Life-Altering Goals Ever!

(catchy title, don't you think?)

Aha!

My very favorite time of year...
or at least one of them...
Actually, every time of year happens to be my favorite.
But, I love this one for an entirely different reason.

This is my time to set new GOALS for my life
which, if you know me at all,
you know I love to set goals.
I love to make lists every morning and check them off throughout the day.
I love to make lists every week,
every month,
every year.
I thrive on goals.
I succeed with goals.
I am a goal-setting machine!

So, in keeping with the traditions of "resolutions"
(except I like to call them life-altering goals: seem a bit more important that way),
here are a few of mine for this next year.
(These are just a FEW of my goals. I have SO, SO many more that I am personally working on but I'm afraid if I were to share them all, you'd either grow totally BORED with reading them all
or
think I'm totally CRAZY for all I set myself to do...)

So, anyway:

Audrey's MOST LIFE-ALTERING Goals for 2012

• I WILL succeed. No matter the cost, no matter the effort, no matter the sweat and blood and tears, I WILL achieve these following goals. (Good to get that out of the way, huh?)

• I WILL establish a much more healthy routine, exercise regularly and ENJOY it. In doing this, I will set aside 60 full minutes every day doing something to achieve optimum health. With this being said, I WILL run a 5K in less than 30 minutes...hopefully I can up my game to a mini-biathlon or even better, mini-triathlon. (It's a dream of mine.)

• And, in keeping with said previous goal, I WILL NOT say that I will go without sugar or flour or fatty substances because I know I simply will NOT achieve that goal. (Kudos to you who do. I admire you SOOOOO much!) But, I WILL say that I will eat "in healthy moderation"; I do not need 4 bowls of soup or 7 cookies or 3 biscuits, but rather one is enough...two if I'm desperately starving to absolute death (which is a highly unlikely circumstance).

• I WILL CREATE daily opportunities to feel the Spirit and to share my testimony with those I come into contact with. This doesn't mean I need to "preach" or even verbally express what I believe, but I will do more to LIVE what I believe, thus expressing my testimony.

• I WILL put away the laundry before bed, instead of leaving it in the laundry basket to be put away another day. I am certain that achieving this goal will alter my life significantly.

• I WILL call people by their given names each time I see them. This will be a tricky one for me. I used to be so good at this as a teenager. I used to say "Hi, ____!" to everyone I came into contact with. It felt so good to know their names when I passed them on the way to classes. Somewhere along the lines, I totally lost that ability. But, I WILL get back into the habit. It makes a person feel so much more loved when their name is spoken with a smile.

• I WILL conquer and read(or read and conquer) at least ONE Jane Austen story. They are so hard for me. I absolutely ADORE the movies, but the books are written in such a difficult and complex language that my simple mind just doesn't quite grasp it. BUT, alas, I WILL do this...if it kills me...

• I WILL continue to write. I will write more music. I will write deeper music. I will compose songs of the heart and continue to work to get them heard by the world.

Life-altering? Earth-shattering? Roaring? Maybe not for you, but to me, they are. These are just a few of the goals I have set to change my life for the better. Besides, anything that helps to improve a life is considered "life-altering", right? 'nough said.

Now, writing them down is pretty much the same as setting them in stone. Once in the public eye, these things MUST be accomplished. Now, it's you're job to keep me straight on them. If you catch me NOT achieving my goals, call me out! If I see you and don't call you by name, remind me! Or if you catch me eat more than two cookies (gasp), slap my hand...but not too hard...

Oh, and by the way, Happy New Year!