Prompt: Beyond avoidance. What should you have done this year but didn’t because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?)

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Hmm…the only thing that comes to mind is the eye doctor—I didn’t go to the eye doctor this year because I was too busy plus I really do still have enough contacts.  However, I’m pretty sure my prescription has gotten a bit worse and I really need to make an appointment.  Another reason I’ve been avoiding it is that I don’t have an eye doctor here yet, so I don’t know where would be good to go.  Oddly most of my friends don’t wear glasses or contacts and don’t have people to recommend.

Will I do it?  Yes!  Otherwise I will run out of contacts in a few months and have to resort to my glasses and there’s no way that is happening!

I don’t know if that’s exactly what the prompt was looking for, but that’s all I can think of.  I really accomplished a lot of my personal goals this year…I really think I did everything that I SHOULD have done, except, like I said, the eye doctor.  COULD I have done more?  Yes, of course, but at some point one has to step back and say, yes, that’s good, you’ve done well.

“That’ll do, pig.” 

I think of that quote from “Babe” when I want to tell myself I’ve done enough.  I tend to beat myself up for not being overachieving enough…I worry that my house/car aren’t clean enough, that I’m not working hard enough at my jobs, that I don’t look put together enough, that my meals aren’t tasty enough, that I don’t act polite or nice enough…that I’m not accomplishing enough on EACH AND EVERY DAY. 

(And I don’t mean I think of myself as a pig! )

“That’ll do, pig.”  That’ll do, Hannah. Stop worrying.  You’re doing enough.

Prompt: Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?

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What healed me this year? 

Not to continually bring up the same thing, but it was all due to signing on with my personal trainer, Joe.  In January I wanted to get in shape and lose weight.  My boyfriend and I joined a gym together and they had a special deal where you could get four sessions with a personal trainer for a cheaper rate.  We both signed up, quickly realized that working out with Joe could change our lives and signed on for longer.  Joe revamped our diets as well as encouraging us through physical exercise.  He made me keep a food diary and put me on a very strict diet.  I had to work out just about every day…and I did everything he asked (I think he was totally shocked by that!).  I lost about 40 pounds in 6 months and since then have maintained that loss.  I’ve also gotten into running and now I love exercising, sweating, and being sore from a tough workout.  I feel strong and healthy, and am so much happier!  (And my boyfriend is totally ripped now—he was thin before and put on about 30 pounds of muscle and looks fantastic!) 

Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? 

It was more of a drip-by-drip evolution.  Each week my diet got easier to follow, each week I felt stronger and in better shape.  Losing weight is obviously a slow process, but it was much faster with Joe’s help and encouragement. 

How would you like to be healed in 2011? 

Well, I have no idea.  I don’t have anything obviously wrong with me at this time that needs healing…I guess we’ll see what life throws at me? Whatever happens, I’d just like to be able to handle it well without stress-eating, which I am pretty sure I can do.  We’ll see!

Prompt: Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it?

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We all know Yoda’s saying.  You may be thinking that I messed up the title of this post, but I didn’t.  My friend Ranya and I went through a period of time last fall where we played a lot of Mario Party 8 for the Wii.  We learned, no matter how hard we tried to win by skill, luck ended up being the only thing that mattered in the end.  You could play a bad game and win, or a great game and still lose.  We decided we needed to just relax and enjoy the ride, and coined the saying, “There is no do, only try.” 

The fun was in the trying.

So what do I want to try next year?  There are a few things I want to try that are personality traits.  I want to try to be less stressed over small unimportant things.  I have a hard time when I am not in control of a situation, and I want to try to be more relaxed when things aren’t under my control, especially when it’s fairly unimportant things like somebody making dinner or planning where to meet to friends. 

What else do I want to try?  I want to try new activities!  I want to try to visit the city’s museums, particularly the art museum.  I made a list of places I wanted to try to go last summer and never got to most of them…(nothing bad happened, the list just continued existing).  It’s still a great list!  I will try to carry that list over into the new year. 

Is there something I wanted to try in 2010? 

I wanted to try to get more into the freelance scene here…it’s a slow process but I am getting more calls from a few more people…so I know I will eventually get there (unless we move, then I’ll have to start all over again.). 

I wanted to try to have more students—that happened beyond my wildest dreams (in fact, I may need to try to have less students).  I wanted to try to lose weight and get in better shape—I definitely did that. 

I wanted to try to be more pleasant and less angry—I accomplished that as well.  In fact, I would say that 2010 was a pretty good year in terms of meeting my resolutions.

In summation:

2011 is going to be the year of HAPPINESS–

the year of really trying to enjoy the city I live in by taking advantage of the many opportunities here for recreation and education.

I will also continue on my path to be more relaxed (less stressed) and to maintain CALM, at least on the outside

Prompt: Lesson learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

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The best thing??  It’s so hard to come up with these things every day when I’m busy…I can easily think of good things I learned about myself, but the pressure of “best thing” is really tough! 

Good things:  I have more self-control than I thought.  I actually enjoy muscle soreness and sweating.  I can run.  I have infinite patience with small children in a one on one setting (though not in a group).  I will always be swayed by cuteness, particularly kittens and fat cats.  I love to learn, and have a constant sense of wonder about the world I live in.

So what is the best thing I’ve learned?  I will continue to learn, change, and grow every year, every month, every week, every day.  That’s the answer to both questions in one. 

Or I’m really tired.  Either way, that’s good enough for me tonight!

Prompt: Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?

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Okay, so I am a bit late on this one.  I procrastinated because I didn’t have a good response.

I have had to make new friends many times in my life, because I have moved several times, and because my friends tend to move as well.  One of these days I will be somewhere more permanently…perhaps I am even there now and just don’t know it.  But until then I will continue to make new friends, and struggle to keep in touch with old friends.  Facebook is a great help for keeping in touch with old friends—both acquaintances and the sort of friend who, if you end up in the same city with them for a few hours, you can pick up exactly where you left off and have a fantastic time with them. 

It’s harder to make friends the older I get.  Sometimes I just don’t want to make the effort to get to know new people and to let them get to know me…other times I meet people who I know would be great friends, but they already have a bunch of friends.  And then many people have children and don’t have time for friends, or have nothing in common with us non-child-bearing folk.

How has a friend changed me or my perspective on the world this year?   One of my new friends loves to try new restaurants—that is always fun.  Other friends encourage me to take classes such as pottery, yoga, or spinning.  I guess if I had to sum it up, my friends tend to encourage me to get out of the house and try new things…Chris and I are creatures of habit, especially if left to our own devices, so it’s good to have friends who push you out of your comfort zone. 

Change is a gradual thing—though showing up to a new class or restaurant is a sudden burst—but personal growth is gradual.  I love having a wide variety of friends with different interests and strengths, and I know they will continue to push me to grow as a person.