2015: Dreams, Themes and Goals

I like dreaming.

I prefer dreaming to reflecting probablyabout 95% of the time. I really only prefer reflecting when it’smasked with reminiscing about happy memories, and sentiments of ‘this shouldhappen again’, ‘I loved this’, or ‘wow, what a great time’.

This preference is both exhilarating anddebilitating, depending on the scenario I find myself in. Example; whenthinking of all the possibilities 2015 can hold, this dreamer preference ispretty fantastic—There is no end to the things I can visualizingmyself accomplishing in the New Year. I can try absolutely anything, succeed, and find a sense of self in the variety of futures I can imagine and placemyself into… I’m basically living out everything on my Pinterest account.

While all this dreaming is simply marvellous, it is only when matched with reflecting on the year past Iam able to pin point what it is I should actually be doing; where I should befocusing my time and energy, and creating a vision for what I want to seehappen in the new year. This reflection needs to take into consideration allmoments during the past year which were monumental to me; the good and the bad, every event that was life changing in some way.

These ‘life changing’ episodes aredifferent for everyone. They can be the moment you realized, despite your bestefforts, you still genuinely dislike olives, the times you realized your lifeisn’t going to continued as planned, and even the times you felt lively crafting a handmade card or playing with your cat. All these little momentsgive insight into what makes us feel alive, what fuels us and where our truepassions are—which is where we need to spend more time channelling our energy. Startidentifying them in your own life as I continue.

Now, yes, OK, playing with your cat is thebest thing in the world, but let’s look a little deeper into that. Why is itfun? Is it because you weren’t doing anything all day? Is it because you werehaving a bad day and that quality cuddle time with your furry friend made youhappy? Seek out the reasons behind the things you either enjoyed or dislikedand you’ll find where to establish the focus for the New Year.In this hilarious (yet oh so true) cat situation, I enjoy fun times with my cat when I’ve beenreally busy and need a bit of a break. What I learn from this is my life needsto involve easy ways to take a few moments to recharge and re-energize after along, busy day. Keeping some easy and creative projects around, like say knitting thatwinter scarf I’ve never started, leaves me an opportunity to knit a few rowswhich will de-clutter my mind and leaves me feeling like I am accomplishingsomething fun that I enjoy doing, but don’t always have time to do. Hangingwith my cat fits into this same category, as well as reading a book or magazine.

Take a look at the rest of life’s momentsthat stand out as monumental from the past year and examine them for theirdeeper meaning. Write them out and soon you’ll find yourself easy themes to helpnavigate your goals for 2015.

When I look back at 2014 I realize I had ayear of ups and downs, challenges, overcoming those challenges and, overall,making a lot of decisions that change the course of any plans that were oncehad. A few themes that stand out for me are how I thrive when I get to becreative, make beautiful things and capture their beauty the best I can, when Iget to spend meaningful time with those who hold value in my life (even if it’sa short amount of time), intentionally growing my faith, and helping people in somesort of way whether in the form of travelling over seas, or helping friendswith areas of need. 

Follow me on Instagram: @LoveInspiresChange

In shorter form, my themes for 2015 become:

- Creativity

- Relationships

- Faith

- Serving

- Health

A theme has more rooting to it. It createsan expression of following passions and living out the deeper callings of yourlife, embedded by God, to keep you moving in the direction to be Hislight to the world in all you do. My chosen themes, while somewhat vague, giveme an amazing focal point for the New Year. Anything that doesn’t fit itselfeasily into one of the above themes is not going to serve me well. It’s kind oflike creating a filter for yourself to live your best in 2015, which is prettyamazing.

My 2014 goals were accomplished, and I’mlooking forward to growing on them and sifting all my dreams through the themefilters I’ve created to create an amazing 2015. I can already tellyou a few of my goals:

- Blogging to take more of a lead role (which easily passesthrough every filter!)

- Baking to continue to be a focus, including collaborating and sharing my creations via my blogging platform and customers

- Take at least one workout classes(instead of just working out at home like I always do!) 

- More dedicated Faith pursuits(attend conferences, studies... you name it, I want in on it!)

So this year, as you dream, reflect, and visualize where you want to go in life, I challenge you to figureout the themes of where you thrive, and pursue all your goals and dreams with your themes shining brightly, guiding every step.

Cheers to an absolutely amazing 2015!

*Interested in setting goals? Check out my post last year on Positive Goal Setting