Listing forward

Been trying to recapture my momentum after months of ill health and sad thoughts. One of the ways I'm doing that is to make a daily list filled with manageable items.

By manageable, I mean items that I can actually accomplish in a day. No "Write a book" since that couldn't be done in a day -- at least, not by me. I don't write or think that fast! But I could write a page a day. Or five pages a week.

Likewise, I can't clean out my closet in a day. There are 20 years of junk and clothes in there. But I can make a little progress daily. I purchased two large plastic tubs that I'm going to fill with items for the closet. I hope one tube will go to Goodwill; the other will go into storage. I have a walk-in closet that I can't walk in. I want to change that this year.

I also want to cook more meals at home. I think home-cooked meals are -- for the most part -- healthy. Not cheaper necessarily because fast food is pretty cheap due to volume buying and low quality ingredients, but I should be able to keep a food budget with some effort.

I want to go to the library more. I've gotten out of the habit. Miss doing so.

I want to write each and every day, be it blogs or short stories or novels or even poetry. I must write. It's good for me. Good for my mental health.

I want to take a lot of photos. I have a good camera now. Why not use it?

I want to sing at least one song every day. Singing is good mental health because it's fun. I like doing it, and I want to keep my voice strong.

I want to watch some DVD courses from The Great Courses that I never have. They sit on my shelves full of knowledge for me. I need to keep learning.

I want to walk (exercise) at least five times a week. My health depends on me being more active. I'm not going to get any younger. Time to start.

All these things will improve my life and my ability to be productive and to be able to help others.

Yes, I will probably not keep all of these -- or any of these -- all year, but the effort is good for my soul. We don't grow unless we try to grow. And I want to grow.