After doing terribly with last year’s intentions, my aims for this year are basically the same. This is because these are the things I know will make me happy and therefore it is in my own best interests to make an effort to do them.
- Write more
This includes blogging but writing in general is something I enjoy and it’s probably a good idea to spend more time with a pen and paper and less screen time. Journalling every day also helps me write blog posts as my non-existent memory skills mean that otherwise I just forget about things.
- Do more yoga
I only practised 20 times in 2018 and mostly in January. So this year I will aim to do better (shouldn’t be too difficult!).
- Walk 10,000 steps a day
I don’t walk 10,000 steps every single day but in 2018 I did average 12,211 steps a day (over 4.4 million steps total!) so I think I’m doing okay. This year will be tougher because work changes mean I won’t be as active as usual and so I may actually have to make an effort.
- Watch the sun rise and set
My favorite times of day. I did pretty well last year, although with more sunsets than sunrises. This is also an exercise in mindfulness and calm to just stop what I’m doing and take some time to appreciate the beauty of the world. Getting up with the sun is also a good thing for me to do as I am at my most productive in the morning so the longer my morning is the better.
- Read new books
Not necessarily newly published books but just books that are new to me. Totally failed at this in 2018 (I’m currently partway through yet another Harry Potter reread!). So any recommendations for books I might enjoy will be gratefully received.
Some new books I did enjoy last year, however:
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
The Guilty Wife – Elle Croft
The Last Romeo – Justin Myers
The Man I Think I Know – Mike Gayle
The Map of Us – Jules Preston
The Princess Diaries – Meg Cabot
The Year I Met You – Cecilia Ahern
And, most of all, the Nocturne Falls series by Kristen Painter! As I’ve read 10 books and 4 novellas from that series so far, I am now beginning to think that maybe I haven’t done too badly reading new books in 2018. And I haven’t kept note of how many books I’ve read in total but I’d estimate more than 50.
- Go to Disney parks as often as I can
Last year I set the intention of not going to Disney World and I succeeded (although I will be there January 7, 2019!). I did go to Disneyland Paris twice in 2018 but I had an annual pass and, financially, it is a lot easier. In 2019, I will not have as much free time but I will try to keep going to Disneyland Paris (because Paris!); another trip to Disneyland Tokyo is also a possibility because one of my friends is moving to Japan in March and I haven’t been to DisneySea yet! This may seem like a weird intention but Disney is one of my happy places and so I think it is a good thing for me to do (although it may also be feeding an addiction).
- Visit at least on new country
This has been an unwritten intention for so many years now (and one I’ve achieved every year). One new country may seem unambitious but I know myself – I love to go back to places I have already been – and so it’s good to remind myself to expand my horizons.
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I know that 2019 is going to hold a lot of changes for me and I am going to find some of them difficult but there will be some amazing benefits such as a lot more time with the people I love. So my global intention this year is to keep myself happy, to do the things I love and to keep everything balanced. I know myself very well, I just need to listen to what I’m telling myself. And chocolate, chocolate might help.
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