Let's Have An Adventure Shall We?

When I think about 2016 - I have a hard time verbalizing my thoughts on it. 2015 was a rollercoaster on a few different levels - but it was definitely a good year.  Honestly, I think that the older you get, the more you realize that life just IS a rollercoaster - at least if you're doing it right.  That means that you are taking the chances that you need to open yourself up to failure and torment - but also taking the chances on the the really awesome things that make you insanely happy. Thus leading to the highs and lows that make up the Thunder Mountain Railroad of Life.  (Wow... that sounded deep, huh?)

2015 had some pretty awesome experiences, but also included a lot of lessons that I had to learn.  Seriously - I thought that by 31, I'd be done learning life lessons. Nope. Apparently that isn't a thing that ever stops. And I am by no means saying that all of these lessons were bad - to the contrary, most of them were good.

So what about 2016?  What's going to be different?  Well... I don't really believe in resolutions.  But I do believe in changing your life for the better.  So that's my goal - to do little things that change my life for the better.  I mean, my life is pretty good (despite all my complaints to the contrary) so we aren't talking a total life overhaul here.  And while many of these goals are private (please... I am NOT sharing all my dirty little secrets with the world) - there are a few that I can share:

• Think less. Turns out that anyone who knows me even a little bit, knows that I am an over thinker.  Seriously.  I can turn almost any situation into a life-ending tragedy in my brain. My brain is the supreme pessimist. I don't know when I stopped trusting my instincts and started overanalyzing. So... 2016 is the year to stop it. Breathe. Trust. Let go. And just see what happens.
• Disconnect from social media. Let's call this more of a social experiment than a goal for the year.  For the month of January - I am deleting Facebook from my phone (I'll still have access to it via computer and/or iPad - so I won't go totally off the grid.).  I've read several articles about how social media affects the way we see ourselves - and I feel like having it at my fingertips 24/7 is just too much. So... I'm giving it up for January.  Maybe for longer.  We'll see how I do.  So far, I'm on day four and I haven't caved yet.  Stay tuned.
• Travel more.  I don't care if it's a day trip to the coast or a weekend trip to eastern WA or a weeklong trip to Central America.  I just want to get out of the city more. Seattle is bustling and I think is probably a top contributor to what makes me anxious sometimes.  Sitting in traffic and dealing with being surrounded by people all that time can be exhausting and I am just not built like that. I love the city, I really do - but I find that I'm happier when I can get away from it all.
• Make my bed every day. Why? Discipline, that's why.  Don't worry that the last two days - Grace has totally removed the throw pillows from it when she wants to snuggle up - but at least I can say that I've tried.  (And to clarify, it's not like I was a delinquent before who never made the bed - I usually do. I'm just making the concentrated effort to take the extra minute before work to do it correctly, throw pillows and all. I know... I'm weird. Whatever. I'm okay with it.)

And so here we go.  Let's have an adventure.