After all this time together some of you may have figured out I like to have a plan. I thrive on rhythm and routine.

Why?
Because if I am left without a plan, a to-do list, or some sort of blueprint, I could easily binge-watch Netflix until I got to the end of its library.
So while for some having a plan makes them feel more comfortable and in control; for me it’s about accomplishing something and not getting sucked into my Taurean ways.
You see, at my core, I am a fritterer. I fritter away time, energy, and sometimes inspiration.
Because I am naturally unguided, I am a fan of making a vision board for my year and I like to have a theme.
Creating structure helps propel me forward. It doesn’t always push me toward “success” in the strictest of terms but for me evolving, trying new things, setting goals, and seeing how close I can get — is success.

When I was weighed down last week with a cold I didn’t much care about my plan for the year. My only focus was being able to breathe through my nasal passages again. Yep, it was primal on Dec. 31, 2016.
Now, I have nearly shaken this cold and I decided that Jan. 7, 2017 would be my do-over New Year’s Eve.
I made some good food and sat down with my journal and started thinking about this new year.
As always, much of my energy and focus will go to ultra races this year. I have seven on the schedule but more about that tomorrow in the Torture Report.

But what else do I want to do this year?
I started thinking about what gives me a real spark of excitement. I know that feels so much better than making a list of all my shortcomings and calling them resolutions. Because, in fact, that’s what it is for many of us. Years ago I began making intentions. The difference is not simply semantic. An intention is softer, more forgiving.

To be transparent, I do intend to lose weight this year but I’m not putting that on my vision board because well.. blech!
That would not be very motivational to look at each day.

I do intend to get my eating dialed in to support some hard training I have planed. But I will not be eating lettuce and carrot sticks in an act of self-loathing. No offense, lettuce and carrots. We are still friends.
I got all sparky when I thought, instead, about pushing my limits, challenging my ideas about myself, and re-defining who I am for myself because who cares what the cashier thinks about the fact that I bought “all those vegetables!?”

I intend to free myself of labels because I think some of them are wrong to begin with and nobody likes to be mislabeled.
And in tandem, I will work on not labeling others — even in my own mind.

Instead, the closest I want to get to a label is calling someone by their name or referencing them as “my friend.”

It boxes us in and makes us lazy in getting to know people because we delude ourselves into thinking those labels tell the whole story. But we know different. Labels are not able to hold the fullness of you, me, or anyone else.

I intend to be more open, compassionate, and daring.

I have been noodling over what word or phrase would encompass all of this.

Some that I threw around were:
Open
Heartfelt
Rewriting
Reorganizing
and then Reimagining came to mind.

It felt good when it rolled around in my mind and even better when I said it out loud.

This year I am reimagining who I am. I am not taking any preconceived notions into 2017 without fully inspecting them and questioning their validity. My hope is this theme for the year will help me get closer to my intentions and even support me in working on my weaknesses. But doing all these in the vein of positivity and with the spirit of curiosity about myself.

Welcome, 2017! We’ll see what a re-do of new year’s eve and a reimagined self-view bring.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,

Lowi & G