So while I was driving home on Christmas Eve a thought occurred to me: If 2023 was my last year alive, how would I spend it? The usual wanderlust sand daydreaming that plagues my life melted away into an honest conversion about something more than “New Years resolution” or “new year new me.” It became a simple conversation of who am I, what should I keep doing, what should I stop doing, and what do I want to accomplish if I only had one shot at life (spoiler alert: everyone only has one shot.)
Tha planning for next year has already gotten underway but I’d like to lay out my plan for 2023 for all to see. The plan is going to be ambitious. I wouldn’t do it any other way, but I will say that I genuine hope to accomplish everything and look back next Christmas and see what happened. Now the age old adage about “How do you make God laugh? Tell him your plan” might well take effect so let’s start with the things that I can 100% reliable commit to and then go from there.
First up is of course my spiritual life and the most important part of it being daily prayer and growth. Now not to long ago I received some great advice from a priest. I was lamenting my failure to say a rosary everyday, go to mass everyday, and spend at least an hour in the chapel…everyday…all great things no doubt, but the priest counseled me to really try and do what God was calling to to each day. Some days it is XYZ, other days it’s ABC. At the core it’s daily prayer and having a really heart to heart with the big guy to figure out my life. So there it is; my first goal this year is simply daily prayer.
Now we get to the juicy part. The part of the concert were the lead guitarist starts hooting and hollering and smashing his electric guitar. Of course I’m taking ‘bout adventuring baby! January is going to be a crazy month already. On the day before New Year’s Eve I’m throwing a massive party (no one plans anything the day before and it’s a Friday so freeeeeee real estate baby.) Then I’m attending the SEEK conference put on by FOCUS. In mid January I’m going on a 4 day backpacking trip in the Smokies. Sheesh! Out of the gate it’s going to be fun.
But there are some things I really want to continue doing this year; read great books, read poetry, train for and race another season of criterium races, continue Jui Jitsu (went to my first class a few weeks ago), become more proficient with firearms, visit a monastery, go to more National Parks, try skiing, try ice skating, continue blogging, continue writing letters to friends, host more parties, build solid friendships in St.Louis, expand my kombucha brewing operation, travel to Europe, kayak around Missouri, and go on a road trip or 5 …
Some things I’m also tossing around; getting a project vehicle like a jet ski or a motorcycle that I can fix up and have some fun with. I’m leaning towards a jet ski because it’ll be easier to repair (engine and fiberglass hull, that’s it)
However there is one thing I want to get rid of….the last bastion of mindless entertainment. I have already scrubbed my life of all social media but I have yet to master YouTube. So it’s going bye bye. One whole year without YouTube (I already don’t have any streaming services so this is going to be wild.) The game plan is to spend this time doing stuff that will actually be productive and cool. So yeah. Cheers to 2023.
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