Eleven and Twelve.

It's so annoying. I've succumbed to the internal self-created pressure to write a blog about New Year. I'm sure tumblr, blogger, wordpress and all the other blog websites are bursting at the seams with new blog authors, new blog posts, and dusted down blogs with a fresh look and a fresh post ready to show the rest of the world who are keen to read and keen to write there own. And here I am, like a lemming following everybody else to write something that everybody else has probably written already, just written in my own way. So, enjoy/endure.

On New Year's Eve my wonderful wife created a template of two lists for her, our friend Rosie and myself to fill in. They had 2 names. The first was 'Eleven Great Things from 2011', and the other 'Twelve Hopes for 2012'. It now is firmly stuck in my journal.

It was great fun writing down and chatting through our completed list of the great things from 2011. Sharing memories and moments from this year that quite frankly, rocked. My list included a few events I went to, some different countries I had the opportunity to visit, and of course my wedding was pretty high up the list. Often we spend so much time thinking about the newness of January and all it brings, without enjoying what has happened. So many great things happened in 2011, and I guarantee that no matter how awful your year may have seemed, there will have been some good things that took place too. Write them down, stick them in your journal, tell your friends. Celebrate the good stuff that happened.
The second list of our hopes for 2012 was also fun to write down and chat about. It comes with a challenge though (12 challenges to be exact), which seems like far too much stress and hassle for a New Year I think, but ah well that's what I get for having a futurist wife!

I'm somebody who is quite goal orientated. I like to get things done, and having a list to tick things off and say 'job done' fills me with satisfaction. So, the sheer thought of having a list with uncompleted, or failed tasks scares me. I know I would get deeply disappointed with myself if I don't complete them, but you want to put big thoughts and plans down in order to inspire you to action! It's a dangerous game to play. Whether they are new plans for this year, or changing of behaviours or attitudes, or developing or launching a new idea, use the lists you write now to stir you to action later in the year.

Anyone can write a resolution. Anyone can have an idea they'd like to do. Anyone can say how they'd like things to be different. It takes an activist to take steps to see them happen. It takes a patient person to wait until you begin to see real results and productivity. It takes perseverance to keep going through the months later on in the year that aren't as fresh and interesting as January. It takes guts, courage and determination, and of course a ton of prayer.

Writing resolutions and plans down for 2012 is a dangerous game to play. But play it. I dare you.