I have to give credit to @honeysuckle.tristen, someone I recently started following on Instagram because of her pics of Jackson Hole, WY, and her musings.  (Much more on that place in future posts!) This was her post on 1/5/21:

INTENTIONAL~

.

I don’t make resolutions but I set a word each year that just feels right. A word that applies to all areas of my life I would like to grow and improve. This year my word is intentional.

.

I will choose to be intentional with my time, family, friends, self care, finances, and wellness. I place this word on my planner, in my car, on the refrigerator, and my phone. Within a few weeks it will just be natural and I will not have to think about it. It only takes 14 days to create a habit or routine.

.

What would your word be for 2021?

Thanks Tristen, you got me thinking. I believe my phrase for this year needs to be something like Finish Well What You Started, or something along those lines. Not that I expect for my life to end this year! God willing, I still have many more years to live, love, grow, give back, and explore. But I have so many projects that I have started that are just waiting for me to get back to. (I have one leather piece that must be 30 years old, that I never painted because I lack the confidence and don’t want to “ruin” it) Besides art projects, I’m in the middle of a certification program to further my career and abilities at work, and again, God willing, both my wife and I will be able to retire early at the end of this year. Will this be another course left unfinished? And yes Jennifer, my wife of 39 years, there is the correspondence art course that I begged to sign up for all those years ago when we were strapped for money, that I never completed. 

So, with this phrase as my guiding principle this year: Finish Well What You Started, I need to remember a couple of things:

1: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters… It is the Lord Christ you are serving” Colossians 3:23-24

2: Making mistakes and doing something wrong is only a failure if I do not learn from the mistake and grow/improve from it. (Way too often I let the fear of messing up keep me from even trying.)

3: I need to keep at it. If not everyday, almost everyday. I need a good plan of action, I need to revisit this plan daily, and work accordingly. 

4: When I am working, I need to give my full attention to working. (See #1)

Happy New Blog! Happy New Life! Happy New Year!