2015 has been a good year for me. I like to take time for introspection at the end of each year, and I see it as a common theme among people who are living an intentional, minimalistic, focused life.
I enjoy reading end of year posts by people like Joshua Becker, Leo Babauta and Courtney Carver. All of who have been major influencers and inspiration in my own journey to a simpler life.
When I look at them, the big influences in simple living, sometimes I can get a bit down. I mean, Leo Babauta took his family to Europe this year, Joshua Becker started a charitable foundation for orphans and Courtney Carver continues to be a driving force with her contributions to the A Simple Year Course as well as her new 21-Day Busy Boycott.
What have I done in 2015 that is worth noting? Honestly, it was not all that I had initially hoped it would be last January as I headed into the year. I wanted it to be filled with lots of growth personally, growth for Simply Clearly as well as the online business I own with my brother. I wanted to take X number of trips with my family, post regularly on my blog, write several online courses and accomplish a full Word document worth of goals.
Just some of what I had hoped to accomplish included-
-Writing a book
-Running two 5k’s
-Calling my grandmother more often
-Only placing one Amazon order per month
-Eating at restaurants less frequently
-Reading one new book each month
Instead of large amounts of growth and accomplishments, I found myself feeling a bit stagnant by mid-year. Not because I wasn’t doing anything, but the direction I wanted to take was unfulfilling, and became unclear.
I was writing just because I figured something should be posted, working just to maintain the business, and personally feeling a lack of desire when it came to my goals.
So, I let myself and everything else coast for the summer. I got by on the bare minimum when it came to blogging and working, and I put my efforts into just being a mom and wife, sister and daughter. It was a break I have needed for a long time no doubt, and my brain forced me to take it.
After the summer ended and the kids went back to school, I found myself slowly wanting to start ‘doing’ again. My personality needed to feel the spark of being productive.
As I looked back over the first 9 months of the year, I felt like I had failed. Instead of trying to scramble and accomplish something on my list by the end of the year, I chose to turn my energies to focusing on the good that happened in 2015, with or without my help.
After taking into account all the good that had happened in 2015 the year became an instant success.
-All my family and friends are alive and well.
-My children all finished their last school year with very good grades.
-We were able to take three family camping trips and one RV trip.
-My husband successfully finished another year of his training.
-We were finally able to find a medication to help our dog Jack manage his horrible allergies.
-We did not have to worry about monetary needs this year.
-I was able to fly to New York and visit a good friend, and she flew in to Georgia to visit me.
-We had visits from my in-laws and my sister and her family who all made the effort and flew in from the other side of the country.
-None of our vehicles broke down and we did not have any unexpected hospital visits.
-I did get to read a couple of really good books including The Art of Happiness and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
-I created two short courses, Intentional Goal Setting and Get Started Decluttering.
My list could definitely be much longer, but just those things alone would amount to a great year for most anyone.
Once I stopped comparing myself against other’s accomplishments and against the list I had created for myself, but that hadn’t panned out, I realized that a year of rest from the need for constant productivity can indeed be productive, especially when that time is spent with those you love.
Still, I do love a good list of ‘favorite posts of the year’, so although my writing was sporadic this year, here is a list of my favorites I published on SimplyClearly-
7 Habits of Highly Effective Simple Living
There Is No Shortcut To Anyplace Worth Going To
Remove The Essentials To Find Your Clutter
Follow This One Rule For A Clutter Free Home
I hope you found 2015 to be the year you were hoping for, and if not, I hope you can still see the good in it and the growth you did experience. I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s and see you next year!