Hi Everyone, and Happy New Year!!

Sorry for the long hiatus, I guess I was taking a bit of what you might call a ‘digital detox’ over the holidays, and although it did feel (really) good, I’ve really missed writing and all of you terribly! It’s good to be back!

This Christmas may have been the lowest key holidays that I’ve ever had. Normally we are traveling somewhere north (either to visit my mom’s family or Matt’s family), or at least all over the GTA visiting different friends, but this year we just kind of stayed put and breathe easy for a few days, which was nothing short of a miracle. In 12 days, Matt and I probably got more sleep then we got in the previous 4 months combined, and got to spend some time on our own around our house, which was also really nice.

[Side note – Matt got us the most incredible king sized mattress for Christmas, seriously, how did I ever sleep on anything BUT this thing????]

That being said, by the time January 1st rolled around, I think that both of us had had enough of lounging around the house and were ready to get back into our routines and our crazy daisy lifestyle. It’s amazing what a few weeks off work will do for your perspective. I’ve set a goal for 2014 to be religious about taking more time off across the whole year, rather than saving it all for the end of the year. By the time December hit last year, I was feeling really bitter and short-tempered and frustrated about work. 12 days later, while all those stressors are still right there where I left them in December, I just felt a whole lot better equipped to deal with them. And less likely to throw my stapler at someone’s head and tell them where to go.

Just sayin’ 😉

So here we are on January 2nd, and I’ll bet that if you follow lots of health and fitness blogs, that you’ve seen a lot of chatter about goal setting, New Years resolutions and challenges upcoming for the brand new year. So have I.

I’ll tell you a little secret, between you, me and the Internet. I set New Years resolutions every single year (even the years that I wave my hand at them and say that I won’t bother this year, I still do, just secretly so that no one knows about them) and I fail at them every single year.

Usually my New Years resolutions are about weight loss. “This year, I lose 20 pounds by cutting out chocolate and junk food and strictly reducing carbs.” “This year, I fit into a size 8 pair of jeans.”

One time, I actually bought a size 8 pair of jeans and hung them on a hanger over my closet door so that I could look at them every day for inspiration. I never did fit my big ass into those damn jeans!!

Anyways, this year, I thought I might try a new approach to New Years resolutions and New Years goal setting, and I thought I would try it in a totally different way then anything I’ve ever done before. Rather than setting “goals”, I’ve created a “To Do” list for 2014. The criteria for an item to make it onto the “To Do” list is simple. It has to elicit some sort of physical reaction from me. That’s it.

One thing I’ve learned from the past year and a half of crazy BHAG chasing is that sometimes you just have to trust your instincts. I think that sometimes you can only mess things up by thinking too much about them, because really, if you think too long and hard about anything, I’m pretty sure that you can find a way to talk to yourself out of it. Too much money, too long of a distance, too different a sport, too risky, not enough vacation time………

Enough.

What if instead of thinking too much, we started to trust that little voice inside us that used to guide everything that we did when we were kids? It’s rarely wrong, and it’s still there. I think that it’s just that as we grow older, the stern voice of reason becomes so much more loud and over-powering, that that meek little voice of passion and excitement fades away or becomes secondary. This is my best effort at reviving it!

And so before the voice of reason over-powers the decision to even post this ‘To-Do List’ for 2014, here goes nothing. A list of things that make me excited, that I plan to get done in 2014:

• Run a full marathon
• Eat a cheeseburger at Webers restaurant on Highway 11
• Go sky diving (I know….just…..I know)
• Organize our storage room (yes, this excites me…I live a sad, sad life….;))
• Ride Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland
• Go on a weekend getaway with Matt (not involving a race or any sort of athletic endeavor!!!)
• Start and finish writing a novel
• Do Edge Walk at the CN Tower
• Take 50 yoga classes
• Read at least 4 new novels
• Complete the Muskoka Half IronMan bike course with a smile on my face
• Share the link to my blog on Facebook (yep, I still haven’t done this almost a year and a half in. Talk about a chicken)
• Improve the organization and functionality of my blog
• Buy a DSLR Camera and start to take pictures more regularly
• Put up an “inspiration wall” in our basement beside the treadmill
• Take 50 dance classes

And there she be!! I can’t wait to get started on making this stuff happen!!

Before you leave today, I want to hear at least one item that’s on YOUR “To Do” list for 2014. If you could turn off the voice of Reason for just a minute, and listen to that inner-child, what is one thing that you really WANT to do this year, if you could do anything?

Happy New Year to all – and happy listing!!

-Sara xoxo

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