Well, It's May 14 ...

And I never even thought about my monthly goal project!  May has been busy, and I think I just got caught up in all the things I had to do.  But I really want to try and keep myself going on this, so here is what did or did not happen as part of April's five goals.

1. Get back to more regular exercise.  So, I only made it to the gym once, but that was once more than previous months.  And I have also been doing more walking, with nicer weather and less ice and slush.  I took my bicycle to be tuned up, and am hoping to ride this weekend.

2.  My Agnes sweater is now history - at least until later in the year.  I just never picked it up after I got started, due to overall malaise, and just not being in the mood to knit a bulky sweater when it started to warm up.  I said if I didn't do any more on it, I'd frog it and wait, so that is what happened.

3.  Clean out a closet, and get rid of things that can't be repaired and/or are no longer worn.  I'm still working on this, switching my winter clothes for lighter-weight things.  But I did complete a clean-out of our bathroom closet, which was pretty daunting, let me tell you.  Here is the "before" picture:

Maybe it doesn't look that bad to you, but it was really a mess.  Stuff was piled on top of stuff, there was a ton of expired medications, there were things in there that neither of us knew why we had.  Every time I'd need something from there, it would drive me crazy trying to find it.

Here is the "after" picture:

Some fabric and plastic bins to organize things as well as some metal mesh drawers meant that not only were things more organized, but they were easier to find!  And there was a lot more room in the closet than it appeared to have in its previous incarnation.  You can't really see the top shelf, but the stuff up there - a lot of extra light bulbs and such - are in a fabric bin, instead of rolling around, getting knocked down and broken.  WIN!

4.  Make/fix something using my sewing machine.  I did clean the piles o' stuff off the sewing machine, but then I decided that the room should be rearranged a bit, so didn't want to get started on anything.  I still want to start using it, but am determined to get the room in better shape before I do, so there is less moving around to do each time I want to get started.

All in all, I did a decent enough job in April.  Since I just thought about this now, and May is nearly half over, I'm going to just keep working on some of the above goals instead of adding new ones.  Hopefully the little bit of momentum will continue.

So that's it for now.  I have some more things to tell you, but they are for future posts.  Until then, I hope you are gaining some momentum as well on things you want to do.  Even baby steps are still steps, right??

Let's Review, Shall We?

I don't know about you, but I'm surprised that it's the last day of March.  I don't know why, specifically, because it's not like it's lasted longer than any other Marches have ... anyway.

Remember this post, where I outlined my goals for March?  I set that list with a certain degree of enthusiasm, and was feeling very confident that I could check things off as the month went along.  Now it's time to review, and I am dismayed to report that the only one of those goals I achieved was enjoying what the month had to offer - my birthday, St. Patrick's Day, St. Joseph's Day zeppoles, a long weekend in Rehoboth Beach, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that it all happened that way - but REALLY?

I didn't even come close on any of the other goals - and I have no idea what I was doing instead, which is the real killer.  So I will give it all another try for April:

1.  Get back to more regular exercise.  I signed myself up for a special program at my gym that starts next week, and especially since it required prepayment, I'm likely to actually go!

2.  My Agnes sweater was completely ignored during March, so I would like to get it well underway (and in a perfect world, finished) during April.  I am stating now that if I end up ignoring it all of April, I'm putting it aside until the fall.

3.  Clean out a closet, and get rid of things that can't be repaired and donate things no longer worn.

4.  Make/fix something using my sewing machine.  I have hand-sewing repair to make, but I need to clean up the junk piled on top of the machine, and actually use it!

I thought about adding another goal, as I like the idea of five things for the month.  But until I can get at least one more thing off the list above, I'll stick with this group of repeats.

So, farewell, March - thanks for the fun things!

Grace

You may or may not remember that for the past two years, I've given myself the One Little Word challenge.  (Informally, that is.  I don't do the "course" thing.)  And both years I chose "kindness."  Well, it was my choice the first year, and then I wanted to continue with it, because I felt I still had some work to do.

I don't think I'm finished with that word, however, I do feel comfortable choosing another.  I mean, I am not necessarily the world's kindest person now, but I am better than I used to be, and at a minimum, I am more aware of those times I am not kind, so I can recalibrate.  I consider that to be growth, and I regularly ask myself now if I am being kind, and/or how I can be kind.  It has really made a difference to me, and to my view of the world.  I would like to think it has made a difference to those around me, but it's not like anyone has come up to me and said, "You know, Bridget, you are much kinder than you used to be," so who knows.

This year, I'm ready for a new challenge.  And so I have chosen another word:

GRACE

Not meaning, that I am going to try and be more graceful, as I'm afraid that ship sailed long ago.  No, what I want to strive to do is to live my life with more grace.  To be gracious more than I am judgemental.  To treat others with grace and kindness.  And most importantly, to remember this:

"I will hold myself to a standard of grace not perfection."

I came across that concept here.  And what it means is that perfect should never get in the way of good.  I tend to be obsessed with trying to do everything perfectly, to be a perfectionist.  In my recent adult life, I've become better at letting perfection go more than before, but I still have a lot of work to do. One of my personal goals related to this is to live my life with more grace/graciousness, in the hope that grace will work along with kindness.  I have a tendency to make things so much more complicated than they would ever need to be.  I get caught up in that, and stress myself out all of the time, and really I should remember how great my life is and can be.  I would love it if grace could be my inspiration and my result.

This will be truly challenging for me.  But I truly feel it's worth it.  And worth the effort to try.