Forgotten

 That list of Goals on my sidebar - I just realized.  I'm 61.  Have I even done any of them?   Did I remember that I was even working on them? 

61 goals before I turn 61

Some happened.  Most did not.

These happened.  Kind of.  At least partially:
1. Arts: Attend 1 production I haven't seen before -
   Broadway:  Jersey Boys, Shrek the Musical, Adams Family, and Dream Girls
   Hale Center:   Ragtime

6. Family: 1 date/month with Brent (total 12):
   I think this just happens, though most of the time it's hard to count them as real dates, because it's usually last minute going out to dinner types of evenings.  Not really great bonding time.
 
9. Family: Attend a Family Reunion
   Yay!  went to San Francisco for this and it was a fun time with my family.  However, Brent didn't come and that was sad for me.   Since he's not a great fan of reunions, it wasn't a sad time for him.
 
30. Health: Get screening exams: colon, pap smear, mammo
  Only mammo.   Got to get going on the other two!   Any good recommendations for a good gyn/ob?
 
36. Home Improvement: Clean out storage room - partial.  Started but not finished.
  
40. Home Improvement: Clean office/organize - partial.  Started but not finished.

47. Homemaker: Purchase another recipe box, transfer desserts to it - Done

50. Knowledge: Read one book - maybe this is why the other goals never got finished.  I have definitely been reading books...
 
51. Knowledge: Learn and use F-stops/aperture settings - Camera settings. Yay!  Still a long way to go but at least I understand them much better today than a year ago.
 
54. Service: Donate blood twice - done

55. Service: Donate additional $30 to a worthy charity - done
 
57. Spiritual: Attend temple twice - well, at least once.

60. Travel: Vacation including Sean and Linzy's family - ummm, does 5 days after my birthday count?  If not, doing the zoo and a few other things while they were here in July has to suffice.

61. Travel: Vacation somewhere I've never been before - Hawaii, San Francisco, and Mont-Tremblant - yes, that definitely got done.
 


14 out of 61 - not really a great record, I'm afraid.



I thought about this throughout the day today.  Thought about my 61 goals and how I had totally forgotten about them through the year.   More like New Years Resolutions.   More like a Bucket List than Goals.  And I realize that the difference is that this list was more a list of things I wanted to DO than a list of goals about whom I wanted to become.   And that's the difference between a Bucket List and setting goals.   

And that's why it was easy to forget.

Bucket lists are fun.  They can be motivational to encourage action in pursuing dreams.  However, they rarely result in becoming a changed person. Similar to accumulating a lot of things, with a list of places to go or things to do checked off, we can exit this world with a whole lot of experiences, but are we really exiting it better prepared to be in the presence of our God?

That's where goal setting should step in and take over.  I think this year I'm going to concentrate not on a lengthy list of dreams trailing down my sidebar that I promptly forget, but instead I will concentrate on setting a few well thought out goals that will help me achieve what I want to become:

I want to be a more worthy daughter of my Father in Heaven (which includes being a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and neighbor.  It also includes using and magnifying the God-given talents with which I've been blessed).
I want to be healthier.
and
I want to be a better Christian.

Those are my big goals.  Over this next week I will establish some sub-goals to help me in this quest.  I'm thinking maybe six goals would be a manageable number.