32.

Well. 32 has hit. We're 35 days from one year of marriage. And we're surviving a pandemic. It's been a year. I pretty much feel like I got to do all the things I wanted to do in the first six months of last year, though. Thankfully we got those in before everything closed:


1) We got married.

2) I ran a half-marathon.

3) We hiked the Grand Canyon.

We also bought a house, moved, traveled to Seattle, and got new jobs. There's been a lot of stress. I'm tired.

So how what about my goals for 31?

Eh. Most of them are still a work in progress.

1) I don't know if learning to be a wife can ever come to a point of completion. Am I learning? Sure. See my Real Life Marriage posts for more on that. Is the process painful yes? Is marriage worth it? One-hundred percent. But nobody said it would be easy.

2) We've done some celebrating: my husband's birthday, holidays, month anniversaries. I feel like celebration has been a little lacking lately. Marking days in these times of social isolation has been hard. Being tired makes celebrating sometimes seem like more work than it's worth, too. I'm still blogging and Instagramming, so I guess those are small means of celebration, but I want to do better.

3) Well, with all the upset, we are definitely not in a routine. We were just starting to find some kind of normalcy when COVID hit. Now we just function day-to-day There is some freedom in that, but also some lack of accountability and productivity. I'm trying to hold it all with grace.

Goals for 32:

These might seem general, but with the current state of the world, they are all that seem appropriate, attainable, and reasonable:

1) Give thanks. I want to find  a place of contentedness and gratitude. My life is what it is. My health is what it is. As my husband says, "Be concerned, but not worried." God gives me strength for each day He calls me to live, and I want to thank Him for that.

2) Seek joy. My joy has been sorely lacking lately. Partly because I am tired. Partly because so many things are out of my control. But I have been reading about how anxiety stems from pride, and how joy comes from standing in awe of God and his world and work. I want to live a life of more joy.

3) Manage stress. Yes, this is a near repeat of one of my birthday goals before, but I need to revisit it. External stress is outside my control, but my responses to stress are my responsibility. Whether managing means more yoga or a different routine, or what, I don't know. I just know my body, mind, soul, relationships (and health!) can benefit from less stress.

-----

I'm thankful for for each day, and another year of life. Here we go...