In with the New

Again, welcome 2012! What a year it is going to be!

Phew. Take a deep breath! On we go!

First up is that I have chosen to use the word LESS as my One Little Word. I had seriously thought I was going to use the word REFUSE but towards the end of November I was really feeling that it is more negative than I want to take on. Then I remembered that when I participated in the BPC Big Idea Festival, Peppermint Granberg presented an interesting layout featuring the word LESS. It resonated with me and I have continued to think of it off and on until now. Now I think that in many ways LESS will be an exciting word to explore for the year.

I am hoping to explore less in the following areas (subject to change of course)
· Less stuff (I still feel that I need to find closure with my 2010 word SIMPLIFY and we seriously have major things to purge)
· Less sitting - more action (increase my running and exercise) {might equal less weight!}
· Less plastic (here is where Refuse comes in – less plastic bags, less plastic purchases, less things we don’t need and more purchases of reused items)
· Less processed foods – more homemade – I began the journey of exploring eating more healthy last year and hope to continue to gain more insight into this
· Less foreign foods more local
· Less water (regarding tooth brushing – I really want to kick this habit!!!)
· Less yelling – more listening (always a good one)
· Less waste - more intention (be more sensible financially)
· Less junk in the evening
Less debt – more financial freedom (focus more on putting money on our debt and less on frivolous purchases)
As you can see, less also equals more. More goodness. We shall see.

How do I intend to tackle this? Given my past year of, shall we say that I may have an issue with follow-through? My 101 things in 1001 days is quickly coming to a close with, shall we say a huge bit of overachievement associated with it. That seems to becoming quite apparent in my life. Lots of lists. Lots of goals. Not so much accomplished. I have so many unfinished projects I can’t count them. Classes and videos purchased but no time to do them. Piles of books to read. To do lists galore. Classic. The few things that I did complete this last year were the three LOAD contests as well as my One Little Word Class. As I mentioned previously, I found that having regular reminders really helped keep these thoughts and goals at the forefront of my mind.

Sooo, I signed up again for One Little Word. I have also signed up for 2 other year long classes that will (hopefully) help with these goals. They are Twelve (sorry link is over) through BPC and Move More Eat Well through BPC. Twelve is for keeping scrapping memories doable and the other is for the healthy side of my goals. Here’s hoping. I also have regular emails coming in from a variety of sources that focus on health, movement, simplifying and happiness. All things I continue to strive for.

One other task that I would really like to work on is to revive my project 365. I thought about it off and on so many times last year but didn’t have a plan and my type A personality prevented me from just starting it wherever I was. I’m thinking that doing a digital template and uploading it weekly might be an easier format. Then I’ll also have templates that are easier to put into a printable book than a blog book. Last year I probably took a photo a day but with no plan it – just-fell-through. But I missed it. Again we shall see. I also like the 12 on the 12th plan. And the 52 weeks plan. (And the dilemma goes on LOL!) Less Alison Less!

In writing this it seems that I am far from LESS. I hope that this is not so. I am open to flexibility but I also know that I work better with concrete goals and plans. A lot of these are measurable goals and I work better with that. I also know from this past year that these ideas have been mulling around in my head and partly in action for a while now. Now it is time for action. The most important thing however, that I should probably focus on is LESS STRESS. What is done is done. I recognize that I can only do so much and I need to concentrate on what I feel is most important. And realize that what I feel is important at one point in time can change too. How’s that for a sermon? Enough said. Time to move on. Welcome to 2012. I’m excited as usual to see what the year brings. What changes will be introduced and to see how we as individuals and as a family will grow. Fun stuff. Onward and upward.