Gah, this one again. I find goals so hard to write about, not because I don’t have any, just because they are so mundane. Throughout my 20s and 30s I worked hard to lift myself out of some fairly difficult circumstances – two kids at 19, no high school eduration, divorce, addiction. My goals were lofty and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to achieve them. I sobered up, went back to school and got a Masters degree, the kids grew into sensible, well-adjusted adults. I got a great job, and then another great job. I married a wonderful man, purchased a home, went on several overseas trips. Became a grandmother. I have a great life.

I feel like I’m on the right trajectory now, the ship is self-piloting. All I need to do is make small course adjustments here and there.

So how do I set goals when life is just as I want it? Last year I said this:

If my goals were to be things that I knew I could achieve in the coming year (i.e. things I know that I will actually do), they would go something like this:

1. Buy all the Apple-y things

2. Go to the gym a lot

3. Spend a lot of time at the ice rink – playing hockey and supporting others

4. Spend lots of quality time with my beautiful children and grandchildren

5. Travel within New Zealand – Wellington, Auckland, Waitangi, Dunedin are sure bets

6. Try and carve out space for relaxation but not really succeed, realise that relaxation is not really my thing

My goals for 2017 are not dissimilar. I suspect 2017 will involve less ice hockey than previous years, since we have a good crew sharing the league admin workload, and Wyatt and Arlia aren’t playing. On the travel agenda are Kaikoura, Auckland, Napier, Bluff, Brunner, and probably Wellington and Dunedin at some point.

My biggest goal is to work on some home improvement. We’ve spent the past few years using our extra money for overseas trips, and have made a decision to stay home this year and do some renovating instead – our bathroom and laundry need an upgrade.