2020 vision // hopes, ideas, and resolutions

Hey y’all!

2020 is here! That’s crazy hard to believe. It’s always funny to hear people talk about how “the new year doesn’t mean anything; it’s just another day.” Sorry, but quite frankly, I love the first week or so of a new year.

The first week is a chance to restart, and if you’re like me, organize and plan to your heart’s delight. I have started bullet journaling and I love it already. January’s theme is paper airplanes and I am having a whole lot of fun creating pages that make me happy.

This new year mindset has also got me thinking a fair bit about how I want this year to change me. If you haven’t read it, last week I talked extensively about my theme for 2020. I am rising up into the leadership and calling God has placed on my life and finish out my high school days strong. (woo woo class of 2021!)

My parents and I joke about me moving out and going to college a lot (in good fun), and it’s sad/scary to think about sometimes. I don’t really want to move on. I like feeling safe. I like being with my family all the time. A few days ago, I was sort of complaining to one of my older friends about high school things and she said something along the lines of “Oh come on, you only have three more semesters and then you graduate.”

It really hit me. I have three more semesters and that’s it.

I have got to be perfectly honest here: as much crap as we give the high school years, this time we have now is never going to be the same. Someday in five years, I may not have the luxury of rolling out of bed at 10:30 on my days off, then walk downstairs to brew a cup of coffee and sit on the couch for a few hours to read my bible and journal. I may not have the time to sit down and write an article for something or invest my time in a project. God has granted me a special season right now, and I want 2020 to become full of “well done.”

In light of that, I wanted to sit down and make goals. I’m really funny when it comes to goals. I am good at making lists and writing things down on little notecards or bullet journals. I am good at then doing those things. I don’t have problems with execution when it comes to those.

But I am notoriously horrible at “New Year’s Resolutions.” *gags* I don’t know why, but I hate them. Never have been really good at keeping them. I know, I know, everyone is kinda bad at keeping them, but I really dislike them.

It’s probably because I am bad at pacing myself and my long term goals but let’s not think about that.

I made myself two goals last year (hoo boy madeleine look at you stretch yourself) and I only completed one.

“1. take a summer hiatus 2. finish at least one draft of Mirage of Shards”

*uncomfortable laughter from a corner, as she finishes draping blankets over abandoned goals*

Yeah so I only completed like half of half? I took a week off in July I think? That doesn’t really count as a hiatus… but we’re going to pretend it does.

And don’t even get me started on Mirage of Shards. I love that story with all of my heart, but goodness gracious it keeps GOING. I’ve been writing this one pretty consistently for the past two years and HELLO IT ISN’T DONE. It’s about 73k unedited words right now and we haven’t hit the 50% plot point… I really can’t complain about it though; it’s been the most wonderful story I’ve written so far and I am proud of how far I’ve come in the process.

So clearly last year’s goals kinda flopped. As I mentioned, this year I need to make some goals for me to achieve. There are a lot of things that I want to do, and this is my year to do them. That brings me to The List. *bum bum bum*

~ the list ~

things i want to do

• see the world – This is kind of really easy to check off because I am going on a mission trip internationally in the spring, but I am still putting it on here because then I can check it off and I love checking things off. 🙂
• audition for the Sunday morning worship team – I had the chance to be on a student led worship team this past weekend and it made me realize how much I love doing that. I play keys for my high school ministry, but this was the first week we did a full student led set. Our leaders are encouraging us to audition for the full-on Sunday team and I am really considering doing it. (btw here is a picture of my shadow on the wall, lol)

• get my licence – This scares me a little, but I am swearing to myself that I will have it by the end of 2020.
• be junior attendant in graduation – My school has an award thing where the two juniors with the highest GPA get to walk in senior graduation and help out with the ceremony. I want to be top junior attendant. 😀 Of course, it should be said that my junior class has like four people in it. With that in mind, my chances are high.
• bullet journal! – I want to keep my “bujo” streak going! I really like it and I think this could help me organize my life a little more. Also, it’s a plus that it’s super fun!!
• read more books – I felt like this year I didn’t read much. That makes the internal bookworm very sad. I got a bunch of lovely books for Christmas that I’m dying to read, for instance, Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson. I’ve been waiting to read that one for a long time. *heart eyes at every single book he’s written*
• do more with my friends – I went to a friend’s house the other day and played with her dogs. It was lovely. Human interaction doesn’t have to be as messy as my little mind always makes it out to be. I want to get better at that.

writing goals

• seriously, finish the first draft of Mirage of Shards – This should be easier this year. I swear to you, I am going to finish this draft. xD Although, honestly, with the way words and ideas keep popping up out of nowhere, I really should hold loosely to this goal.
• the year of the introverted raconteur – I want to implement more planning into the life of The Introverted Raconteur blog! I got a notebook for Christmas that I have since christened as the Blog Book. I’ve been planning post ideas (including this one!) and it’s really working nicely! I want to be able to have creativity spill out on that and then transform that explosion into a masterfully crafted blog post here.
• more Rebelution posts! – If you haven’t heard before, I have contributed to The Rebelution a couple times in the past two years and I really like working with their team. Their platform is full of so many talented, on-fire teenage/young adult writers, and I am always honored when I am scheduled. I would love to do a few more posts in 2020. 🙂

growth goals

• the bible in a year – I’m working through a plan on YouVersion to read the entire bible in a year. I haven’t done that before, and I know that it is going to be electric in my spiritual life. I have already experienced so much life out of the first six days (yeah I started a day late). I highly recommend it.
• set aside time – Another thing I’m working on this year is setting aside time to just be in the presence of the Lord. It’s life changing and I always find time to do it, but this year I want to physically set aside time for it. This leads into the next one…
• put down my distractions, for pete’s sakes – I’ve been feeling like I’ve been distracted lately, both by good things and bad things, and I need to recenter. I don’t need to be on my phone, I don’t need to be scrolling YouTube right now, I don’t even need to be doing an assignment. Stop making excuses for not having enough time. Do what needs to be done when it needs to be done, and when that’s finished, spend time with Jesus or do something else fun. But for crying out loud, self, you need to stop procrastinating. Put down your phone.
• run to Jesus before people – This has been something I’ve been learning gradually, but I have learned it more in 2019 and now I’m putting it into heavy practice in 2020. It used to annoy me when my mom would say “have you talked to Jesus about it?” Now I understand how right she was. He is always there and better than anyone else about any topic ever. His sense of humor is also top notch, y’all. 🙂
• step out in faith more often – Too often I feel prompted to do or say something and never do it. This year’s theme is Rise Up. The accompanying underlying theme is warrior. Would a warrior speak up? Yes, she would. I am working on boldness and fearlessness with Jesus. I trust Him completely, so why not step out in that more?

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I think this is a manageable list, don’t you? My year is off to a great start, and I hope yours is too!! I think we’ll check in on this list midyear. It’ll give me some accountability, as well as a time to work towards. Again, I’m glad we’re all starting this momentous year off right!! Don’t abandon your goals!! Hold fast to the resolutions! You can do it!

Now go forth, mis amigos and amigas, and smile. Your day is just beginning. Make the best of it. Don’t procrastinate. Work hard. Make me proud. 🙂

Love you all,

Madeleine