Living a Good Life is Enough
Happy 2020! I don’t know about you, but I love the New Year — not because I have big plans or want to change the world — I just like fresh beginnings. It is like the seasons with each New Year representing a Spring where dormant flowers can begin to blossom. It always seems like possibilities are endless on January 1!
Recently, I did an inventory of all that I “accomplished” in 2019. I am a list making junkie (something you should know about me if we are to be blog friends) and an end of the year assessment is a perfect opportunity for me to flex my list making muscles. As I started jotting down my list of major accomplishments, however, I realized that there were none. I did not lose the ten pounds, write the Great American novel, travel to Europe, or run a marathon. Now wait a minute…none? Am I being too hard on myself? Where was I all of 2019?
I started thinking about it, and realized that this list, or lack of a list, so to speak, clearly did not measure my worth as a person or represent how I spent my days last year. First, let’s look at the definition of “accomplishment”: something that has been achieved successfully…with synonyms such as…achievement, act, deed, attainment, effort, to name a few.
If I am to go by the definition and the synonyms, an accomplishment can be something smaller and perhaps, meaningful, as well. In other words, living a good life — showing up every day for all that 24 hours requires in a life — is showing “effort” and certainly involves doing “deeds.” I began to create a new list of what I felt proud of attaining in 2019:
First and foremost, I loved and took care of my family — spent oodles of time with my husband, paid bills, kept house, decorated said house on holidays to make it feel warm and festive, cared for our three cats and one dog, made sure my 16 year old daughter had all the “stuff” (vague word for clothes, cosmetics, nail appointments, etc.) she needed to feel confident and happy…and just loved her for being her. Wined, dined and laughed with my adult son and his lovely wife.
I showed up to work. As a Special Education Instructional Assistant at a high school, it is not always easy to be there for teenagers in their various states of hormonal imbalances, family issues and academic limitations.
I traveled a bit — no major trips — but many fun, memorable mini trips with my loved ones…including Monterey, California, Palm Springs, Paso Robles, Las Vegas, camping at Malibu, etc. I even went to one of my bucket list places, “The Winchester House” in San Jose.
I prepared way too many delicious meals to count and have delved into more complicated recipes. My cooking skills have greatly improved. I made a whole baked chicken with gravy recently that was to die for, no kidding!
I took golf lessons and will probably never be very good, but I keep on trying and I have a greater appreciation for the game. (I took two weekend sessions that were fairly grueling…)
I worked alongside my husband in the summer cleaning and maintaining swimming pools. It is hard, back breaking work, especially in hot weather, but I did it! We had so much fun together, I met many wonderful customers, and I strengthened my core.
I wrote a few poems and went to a poetry reading that was so-so but at least I threw myself in the arena once more.
So there you have it! My impromptu list of “efforts” in 2019. In the past, I had a lot of major life events to overcome that overshadowed the smaller, more mundane tasks involved in making a life. But I have realized — especially this past year — how important the little things are that go into making a well rounded life.
For 2020, my anti-resolution resolution is to continue where 2019 left off…caring, cooking, golfing, working, traveling, doing nothing…and now, blogging!
Happy New Year!
Cheryl Thatt-Burbank 