By Shannon Magsam
I don’t really like the word resolutions. So at the beginning of a new year, I prefer to set “goals” instead.
Instead of a bunch of random ideas, I plan one or two goals for each area of my life: family, friends, spiritual, financial, business and health.
My overall goal in 2012 is: Learn something new every day.
I LOVE learning. As adults, we sometimes forget that life is a journey and we just get up every day, put our feet in a groove, and start walking. We stop learning.
I started a journal to record what I learn each day. I want to learn HOW to do some new things, but I also want to learn new insights {about myself, God, my journey, my family or my purpose}. So far I’m loving it. Some days it’s a challenge to figure out what I learned that was NEW. Other days it’s awesomely obvious. Yesterday, for example, I learned how to do the Stag, the Monkey and the Parakeet at Pilates Plus. Aiiieeee!
The journal has been a fun tool to reflect on the day and I know I’ll like looking back over it at the end of the year. Especially since my memory is like Swiss cheese.
When I first got started, I asked my daughter to draw a picture on the inside cover of my journal. I assumed she’d go for flowers or something girly — or maybe even her current specialty, a fire-breathing dragon — but she came up with this instead (which really made me laugh):
I asked her how much the bird would make for each lesson I learned. She said a quarter. Then I did that annoying mom thing where I asked her how much the bird would make in a year if I paid her 25 cents a day. Why not make it a learning moment?! There’s always time for math!
I think the fact that I’m journaling my experiences is making me more open to new ideas and experiences.
So welcome new experiences, thoughts and ideas! I gotta help that mama bird feed her babies!
I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. ~Eartha Kitt
Shannon Magsam is mom to 9-year-old Ladybug, married to Ladybug’s dad, John, and co-creator of nwaMotherlode.com. To read previously published installments of Life With Ladybug, click here.
