2011's Mountain

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves” – Edmund Hillary

“To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.” Kofi Annan

2011 will be an interesting year. In many ways, it will still be a foundational year – paying off debts to lay the ground work for future plans, working hard at new jobs, and other such practical goals.

In other ways, I will have freedom I haven’t had in several years – more vacation time, more disposable income, more time to myself.

What does one do, while both laying foundations, and exercising new freedom? It feels like a mental yoga pose – like Tadasana – standing firm on both feet, while stretching the top of the head toward the sky. So, in honor of this Mountain Pose kind of year, I’m going to draft my 2011 goals as if they are the pose itself....

The foundation. The base of the Mountain. Standing firmly on both feet, feeling the four corners of the feet, using the toes to balance, but able to wiggle them, spread them and lay them back down one by one.

• Pay off credit card debt
• Live within my means
• Replace windows and doors on the house

The limbs of the mountain. On an inhale, fire up the quadriceps and feel the pelvis glide forward a little bit, sliding into place. Legs feel relaxed, but active.

• Exercise 300 minutes per week
• 4 duathlons with Tri the Parks (and maybe 1 triathlon?)
• Work on running speed – decrease my 5K time to under 30 minutes, decrease my duathlon time to under 2 hours.
• Biking a century
• Log my food 100% of the time, and strive to get 30% of my calories from protein

The mountain ridges. Remember intrinsic equilibrium with a nice slow breath cycle. The spine does not need muscular interference to keep us upright. Breathe my ribcage down and back, breathe my core to support effortlessly.

• Go on a real vacation with Brett
• Hike a bit of the Appalachian trail with Jessica in July (a real mountain or two for the Mountain year)
• Girls weekend getaway with Kara
• See my family
• Throw a party

The penultimate peak. Roll the shoulders up and back, allowing the shoulderblades to flatten against the back like wings, and the hands to curve forward, palms flat.

• Make something beautiful and useful with my new sewing machine
• Finish a draft of one of my stories, and the How to Think Sideways course
• Meet minimums on Suite 101 – that’s 180 articles up by this time next year
• Regular blog posts on both blogs (goal is 24 minimum posts on each)

The Mountaintop. Inhale and lengthen the back of the neck, tilting the chin forward to straighten the spine. Imagine an invisible cord from the crown of the head pulling the spine even longer.

• Finish reading the 40 or so books I’ve got on my shelves
• Regular yoga classes, regular massages
• Regular morning pages. Really stick with it!
• Habitual self-care, be that wardrobe updates, alone time or a good haircut

Oh, and don't forget to breathe.....

2010 Accomplishments

I've only got 20 days to make the rest of my 2010 resolutions happen, so I'm thinking it's about time to review what I have - and haven't - accomplished this year. Mostly, this exercise serves to celebrate this year's accomplishments, but it also informs next year's set of resolutions.

Health

• Record everything I eat to ensure proper nutrition -My food log says I've logged 93% of my days this year. That means I've logged every bite except for FIVE days worth. I think that's a pretty incredible achievement given everything else that was going on in my life!
• Try to get all of my nutrients from whole foods instead of supplements - This is harder than it sounds when you can't have dairy. Calcium is only present in minscule amounts in the foods I can eat. I did try though, and I will continue to try to eat the most nutrient-dense foods available, rather than empty calories!
• Exercise 300 minutes per week - I fell off track, and got back on track various times and for various reasons throughout the year on this goal. However, I did work out a great deal, and I have some extra accomplishments to show for it....
• Ride my first Century! - ARGH! Just like 2009 - it didn't happen in 2010. My longest ride to date is 62 miles, which is not too shabby. Again, I say, this will happen next year.
• Unexpected accomplishments in the realm of health? I ran-biked-ran 2 duathlons this year, and I ran my longest distance to date of a little over 12 miles. I can run a 10K without walking at all, and without my heart rate going out of the fat-burning zone.

Creativity

• Daily morning pages and Weekly Artist Dates. Mandatory. - Sometimes it feels like I don't notice I'm doing these things because they are simply second nature. Then, other times, I realize that I don't notice that I'm doing these things because I'm completely not doing these things. I also notice when I stop doing them that I can feel it - the pressure builds up. Creativity will out, my friends. You've got to let it happen!
• Weekly ruminative activities – walks, gardening, solitude - Wow, my gardens suck. However, I walk a lot more to work, and have walked a lot more this year in general. My running is also very ruminative. I don't listen to music, just run. And that ends up being great solitude time as well. Of course, I get a LOT more solitude time now with Brett's new schedule....
• Unexpected accomplishments in the realm of creativity? In May, I signed up for an online fiction writing course that has got me writing more than ever! And I think it's pretty cool that I kept up with my blog pretty well. :) I even started a second blog!

Professional & Financial

• Publish 200 total articles on Suite 101 by end of 2010 - Ha! Ok, I am up to 139 articles on Suite 101, I barely kept up with my minimums, and now I've got an extra hurdle of being unable to write about the vast majority of the stuff I usually write about because of my new job.... but, I did keep up with my minimums, and had a few neat successes with my articles - from being featured in the Smart Brief on Social Media to getting to connect with authors after I've reviewed their books.
• Aggressively pay off Credit Card - This goal was met, and then it was not met. I actually paid $5,000 off on my card this year. And then I re-charged it back up. I don't see this as a failure, but rather as an accomplishment - not the charging the card, silly. But the fact that I've managed to hold down my job (and get a new one), keep the heat on and the mortgage paid, and keep the two and four-legged family well-fed for the entire year. Even when Brett was unemployed for 10 of those 12 months in 2010. This is an accomplishment given the economic climate of this year. I made this goal without knowing the challenges I'd face. And I think I came out of this hard year with my head held high. Oh, and we had the unexpected challenge of the Air conditioner breaking in June. I had the whole HVAC system replaced - air, furnace, air filters, duct work. My utility costs have dropped dramatically, and I think the air quality is better in here, but by golly, that was expensive!
• Continue to build portfolio - Well, I've got a few articles and a new blog to show for some of my portfolio building. I have some new success metrics added to my resume. So yeah, I think this was a goal well acheived.
• Unexpected accomplishments in the professional and financial realms? Well, for one thing, I managed to find and get a fantastic new job! It was a huge career move to go to a trusted online brand, it was a big deal to go to a company that really cares about health and well-being and balance, and it is truly a fabulous place to work. I enjoy going in to the office every single day. And as Brett observed, I always come home smiling.

Time's a wasting!

I've got it on my list of to-do's to write a blog post going over my 2010 accomplishments and wacky new things I've tried in the past year.

I might get to it this weekend - between decorating the tree, finishing up this year's edition of Lazy, Cheap and Tacky, making fudge, buckeyes and assorted other holiday goodies, working on paintings and other handmade gifts, and taking another bellydancing lesson.

Of course, on that list of accomplishments will be my new job, and all of the work I'm doing there. I'm loving it, in case I haven't cornered you to effuse sufficiently. I feel like I've come home here, and every day that feeling settles in a little more. From building Monty-Python themed cattle-flinging floats on little red wagons for the Holiday Party (pictured here - we find out if this won the contest tonight!), to actually accomplishing things on the website.

It's easy to feel like my work has influence and meaning when I can ask for a page to be built, and suddenly it appears! The first one of these is this one on types of diets - which is by no means complete, but it's a start. (Now, Nutrimirror readers, please understand, this doesn't reflect or speak to my own personal opinions on dieting! this is purely an SEO effort! I am, in fact, pushing for more content about logging foods, getting a support community, and perhaps comparison and contrasting food-logging websites....mwahahahahaha......)