2020, the year I managed to.../2021, the year I hope to...

Dear friends,

2020 is almost at an end. To say it has been SOME YEAR is an understatement. Through the ups and downs, through the global pandemic, through the hateful violence, it's hard to feel accomplished for the things that you might have done this year. 

At the same time, if there is one thing I learned this year is that I have the right to celebrate myself. So in 2020, I....

1. Relearned how to crochet and made a beautiful afghan for Lana.

*Fun fact - I call this the Pivot blanket.

2. Learned how to make pasta dough

 3. Ran a total of 26.2 miles which ended with a 5 K on my birthday.

4. During a break in the pandemic, visited Prague. A place that was on my Travel Bucket List.

5. Conquered Polish cooking by learning how to make Golabki and Pierogis.

I know everyone is paranoid about making grand statements for 2021. To be fair, I think 2020 taught us to be a little bit more humble, a little bit more patience, a little bit more kind to others who are NOT like you. 

Having said that, I know that 2020 also showed the worst in people in power, in our community, and worst of all, in our friends. I know that I was shocked to see the reactions and positions on some people.

But a new year is coming and for all of the "I'm done with 2020." I've said in the last couple of weeks, I want to take that energy and focus on the new year. 

I found this goal setting statement on Pinterest a couple of years ago. It's meant to help you to focus on a specific action with your goals. 

This year I will...

1. A bad habit I'm going to break:
2. A new skill I'd like to learn:
3. A person I hope to be more like: 
4. A good deed I'm going to do:
5. A place I'd like to visit:
6. A book I'd like to read:
7. A letter I'm going to write:
8. A new food I'd like to try:
9. I'm going to do better at:

I did this goal setting for 2019. Oddly enough, I never wrote anything down for 2020. So I thought I would use it again for 2021. So here it is, my 2021 goals (with a bit of leeway for anything that may occur):

In 2021, I hope to...

1. A bad habit I'm going to break is the mindless scrolling on social media. 
   Why? So many things trigger my anxiety. It's content that I do not need in my life.
2. A new skill I'd like to learn is to make my own pickled vegetables or Kim Chi.
   Why? I crave them more now and they are really easy to make, might as well learn how to make them.
3. A person I hope to be more like is Michelle Obama. 
   Why? I'm listening to her autobiography Becoming, watched the Netflix special of the same name, and her podcasts. I know this answer will divide people. And I fully expect a litany of criticisms for this choice. But I stand by it. For all that she had to endure as the first Black First Lady, she did it with grace, class, and style. Her overall message is to encourage young women, especially young women of color,  to use their voice and dare to achieve their goals. As a grown women of color and the mother of a girl of color, that is a message that I need to hear, to live by, and to instill in Lana. 
4. A good deed I'm going to do is to run for a cause.
   Why? I will be turning 40 next year and I wanted to mark it with a special run. So it will be "40 days to run 40 miles for my 40th birthday". I also want to run for a specific cause. I haven't decided what that cause will be, or how I will do it, but that is the goal.
5. A place I'd like to visit is Greece.
   Why?  It's still on my Bucket List and we had plans to go in October for our 10th wedding anniversary . .but alas COVID-19.
6. A book(s) I'd like to read are the books that I am currently in the middle of reading!
   Why? Pretty self explanatory.
7. A letter I'm going to write are to friends.
   Why?  I actually started to write hand written letters to some people. It's fun, but at the same time, time consuming. I could spend all day writing letters. So I chose to write to a couple of people and mail those letters out. When I get a returned response, then I write back and write one more letter to a new person. 
8. A new food I'd like to try is ????
   Why? I really need to think more about this. I've tried so many different cuisines, I don't know what else is out there that I would like to both try and cook!?
9. I'm going to do better at channeling my anxious anxiety into creative/active outlets.
   Why? Because I have found that helps me and there is something tangible that comes out of the process.

So those are my goals. Wish me luck. Or I prefer to say, 

"May the odds be ever in my favor."