2025: a look ahead
I’m anxious about this year, I won’t lie. But I’m not letting that distract me. To help with that, I looked at my life (and habits) and made a list of goals (or intentions, if you will) for the year ahead. To keep me busy and focused on what matters. To help me maintain my sanity.
I shared more of my intentions for the year in this post and the ones for 2024 here (I lived by most of them, though I failed on the less-scrolling one). Looking back, I think doing so was helpful. And I want to expand on that.
These are truly some of my goals for 2025; let’s dive in.
less shopping.
I bought an astounding number of dresses in 2024. I can’t help it — I love dresses and I truly live in them. Also, in my defense, most of the dresses I purchased are made of natural materials (like linen and/or cotton) in classic silhouettes. I think long and hard about what I buy as the idea is to hold on to them for years to come. I don’t buy things to get rid of or return them. I also mainly gave up on acquiring trendy pieces. I truly purchase just things I love. But the simple truth is that I’ve done too much of it and I need to rethink it. This leads me to my other goal to…
Get creative with what I have.
As in, find several ways to style and wear my closet (and actually do it). I am a creature of habit and find myself reaching out for the same pieces again and again, especially when in a rush. This is not a bad thing as it means I’ve found my “style” and the items that work for my life. However, I want to expand it to those pieces that are less worn — not because they’re not loved, but because of that creature of habit in me that is too comfortable to dig a little deeper into my closet (and creativity).
Learn a new language.
I actually started this in December 2024 when I found myself doom-scrolling too much. I thought of ways I could reclaim my time (and sanity, honestly), and one of the ideas that came to me was to learn a new language. I landed on Spanish since it’s everywhere, and so far so good. Me encanta!
Brush up on a language I used to speak.
I used to speak several languages, some fluently and some… not so much. This year I want to either brush up on French or relearn Italian. Now these goals should keep me busy!
Continue working out.
For years I simply hated the idea of exercising. But as my first priority is my health, and as I’m getting older, I don’t have the luxury of skipping working out anymore, if I want to maintain it (my health). And yes, there’s also the thing about having a weight goal that I’ve lost control of. It is a bit about vanity (as in, I want to look good in my clothes), but it’s mostly about how I feel. I feel the extra weight on me and I don’t like it. So I’ll work on that…
Believe again (this is not about religion).
I have to admit that I’ve become quite a cynic (aka, a person who believes people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons, as the dictionary puts it). While there are plenty of people out there who justify my becoming so, this past year’s events (aka, the hurricanes in our area) and especially this week’s (the fires in Los Angeles), I’ve been proven otherwise. Again… I say again because, in 2023, I read an eye-opening book. One of the things argued in that book was that humanity is inherently good.
I mulled over it (and cross-referenced it) and concluded that it was true. If it wasn’t so, humanity and humans would not be here still. Of that I’m convinced.
I don’t follow the news anymore, but the headlines are next to impossible to avoid. And they’re riddled with evil and hopelessness. They simply make you lose faith (and hope). Inarguably, the goal of some media organizations and people. You see, bad news always travels faster, it brings clicks and reactions and gets us into a tailspin. So much so that we lose focus on what matters. Or anything else that’s out there. And I refuse to fall into that trap again…
Sure, it may seem like evil is winning right now, but history is here to show us otherwise. So this year, I want to focus on maintaining faith and the belief that miracles do happen. I simply want to find my way back to believing in the good. I hope you do, too.
What are your goals for 2025?