Goodbye, 2020: A Look Back at Last Year’s Resolutions

Can we talk about last year?

Last January, when I jotted down my resolutions for the year ahead (in INK, no less), I did so with a certain degree of optimism with which I think we all approach new seasons. “This is the year!” we also exclaim with a smile.

Right?

Of course, no one knew that in the months ahead we would be bombarded with unimaginable challenges. A global pandemic; nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions; social and political unrest; and countless other unforeseen roadblocks in our personal lives.

Of course, nothing about last year ought to surprise us, really. When do we ever know what the future will hold? To go into any new day with the expectation that all will go ahead as planned in folly. Our goals and plans and expectations are always written in the sand. Only God’s will is written in stone, only His plan is sovereign (Isaiah 46:10).

Looking back, thinking ahead

When I pulled out the journal I was using last January and looked over what I wrote down then, I enjoyed seeing what I was able to check off as complete and what remained unfinished. For anything that didn’t work out, I know that it either wasn’t the right time of my life for those things or they aren’t meant to be a part of my life at all, and that’s okay. My ultimate desire is that my heart will align with the will of God (Psalm 37:4), so I trust that what He desires for my family and for me will come to fruition in due time.

I enjoy writing out resolutions for the year, and I use that word purposefully because I believe it is the right one. What is a resolution, after all, other than the formal expression of a desire to work towards a certain course of action? We do this all the time, of course, but it is only because the word itself has evolved int a cultural trope that we tend to turn our noses at the idea and profess to be above such optimistic nonsense.

G.K. Chesterson celebrated the idea of new beginnings, and I love what he had to say about the new year in particular:

The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. 

G.K. Chesterton, The G.K. Chesterton Calendar (1921)

Scoff, if you will, but I will use the word that fits, thank you very much.

Here is what last year’s resolutions looked like for me:

2020 Resolutions: Yes

These are resolutions that we achieved in 2020.

• Have a piece of writing published. I ended up with two short stories published on Short Fiction Break, “Decay” and “The Bridge,” the latter of which won an honorable mention in the 2020 Fall Writing Contest. I also published a personal essay called “Memories of my Grandmother” on the Kindred Mom blog and a guest post about hiking with littles on my friend Nichole’s blog, The Luckey Wanderers. I also practice writing more the past year than I have since college, which to me is the greatest success.
  
• Log 1000 hours outside. We blew this goal out of the water and ended up with almost 1300 hours. Woohoo! This experience ended up being life-changing for me, and I hope to write more about our journey with the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge soon. (If you aren’t familiar with the challenge, find out more HERE.)
  
• Camp with the kids, by myself. I did this several times, in fact. It was a huge mental and physical challenge for me, and I am so proud of myself and my kids for how far we’ve come since our first trip, which I wrote about on my blog a few months ago. I am looking forward to many more camping trips in 2021.
  
• Build a better chicken coop. I worked and sweated many hours to get this finished by the time our poults were ready to go outside, and I must say I am quite proud of my work. I learned a lot in the process, as well. Many thanks to my dad for helping me with the trickier parts.
  
• Start a blog. You’re looking at it! I have not been able to post as consistently as I’d like, but it exists and that’s a start.
  
• Clean up the garden. This evolved into a complete overhaul. My dad and I installed a new fence and I pulled out all of the raised beds. I also planted my first fall garden and I still have cabbages, radishes and broccoli going strong. I am very much looking forward to getting started in the spring.
  
• Build a routine for our days. I would say I did this but not in the way I expected. The truth is, our routine and rhythm changes from season to season, and I think that will always be the case simply because our needs and priorities change. I have learned to embrace more flexibility and have become more able to pick us back up when we fall out of a regular routine, and that feels like an achievement in itself.
  
• Find our dog a new home. I almost did not share this here since it is so personal and not everyone will understand our decision. We loved our dog, Noby, and it required a great deal of effort and will-power on my part to do what was right for our family. This wasn’t easy, but ultimately it did work out for the best.

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2020 Resolutions: No

The below resolutions did not work out in 2020.

• Sew a dress for myself. I don’t think I’ve touched my sewing machine all year, but I’m okay with that because my priorities have been elsewhere and it isn’t going anywhere.
  
• Take my daughter on a girls’ only trip. This did not work out due to the pandemic, but we did manage to take a much-needed impromptu family vacation to the beach.
  
• Create a side-hustle. I’m not sure what my original intention was with this, but I did end up setting up a (VERY) small income stream through this blog and social media. I hope to invest more time into pursuing this in 2021.
  
• Find a penpal. I honestly forgot about this one. I’d like to try again! Email me if you’re interested.
  
• Learn to weld. My dad was very busy this year and we did not see my parents much due to COVID, so I have sidelined this one for now.
  
• Write down my dad’s stories. I just did not make this happen, but I hope to start in 2021. This is very important to me to do for our family.

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Overall, I am pleased with what our year looked like, especially considering what a difficult year it was for our own family and for everyone. There were some very hard situations over the last twelve months, and I am grateful to be able to look back and see the good that came out of it all. Next time I will share what I am hoping to focus on in 2021.

-April