Looking back, forward as a new year begins

I’m grateful for these women in my life—pictured are some of the members of our Women Who Run with the Wolves bookclub at our end-of-the-year gathering.

Now that I’ve been doing this regular writing gig for over a year, it’s fun to look back and see what I was writing about a year ago at this time. I looked back at my first column of 2010, and it was titled ‘Create the life you want this year,’ which is just what’s on my mind again. Some things never change.


Since the calendar page has just flipped over to another fresh, new year, I wanted to share a New Year’s Questionnaire with you. I didn’t write this, but I wish I had!

Filling these out and looking back on them from year to year will become an annual tradition for me. I find it useful to put down on paper how I want to live more authentically. I hope it’s meaningful for you, too. (The full version of this questionnaire is posted on my blog.)

Completing and Remembering the Past Year:

What was your biggest triumph this year? What was the greatest lesson you learned? What are you most happy about completing? Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life? What was the biggest risk you took? What compliment would you liked to have received? What compliment would you most liked to have given? What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2010?

Creating 2011: What would you like to be your biggest triumph? What advice would you like to give yourself? What would you most like to change about yourself? What are you looking forward to learning? What about your work are you most committed to changing and improving? What is one undeveloped talent you are willing to explore? What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do/have more of that?

Full Version
Completing and Remembering the Past Year:


What was your biggest triumph this year?

What was the smartest decision you made this year?

What one word sums up and best describes your 2010 experience?

What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2010?

What was the most loving service you performed in 2010?

What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in 2010?

What are you most happy about completing in 2010?

Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life in 2010?

What was the biggest risk you took in 2010?

What was the biggest surprise in 2010?

What important relationship improved the most in 2010?
What compliment would you liked to have received in 2010?
What compliment would you most liked to have given in 2010?
What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2010?


Creating 2011:

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2011?

What advice would you like to give yourself in 2011?

What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in

2011?

What would you be most happy about completing in 2011?

What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2011?

What would you most like to change about yourself in 2011?

What are you looking forward to learning in 2011?

What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2011?
What about your work are you most committed to changing and improving in 2011?

What is one undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2011?

What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in

2011?

Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving

in 2011?

Creating the life I want

(In this article I referenced a book in a sentence that was cut in the paper, I guess due to being over my word count, oops.  The book is Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and it's one of my favorites.  That's where the term 'wild woman' comes from.)

I will be authentic. I will be true to my feelings and unique perspective on the world. I will make my voice heard, mostly by whispering, shouting when necessary. I will break through taboos of mainstream thought and collective consciousness. I will question. I will wait for answers. I will take time, unapologetically, for me. To light incense and candles and whisper prayers to the Creator. To move to music that moves me deeply.

I will listen to my intuition. I will spend time dreaming, then set to work to manifest those dreams into reality.
I will take long walks and think. I will be still and just be. I will paint a picture and not judge the end result, just enjoy the process and the joy of creating. I will check out more books by intriguing authors (and collect more fines on my library card). I will write in my own books, underlining passages and scribbling in margins. Through books, I will continue to discover my own unique voice.

I will be a wild woman, a woman who has her own passions and who is creating her own personal revolution. I will feel and love deeply. I will connect with other wild women and we will laugh and learn and lift each other up. I will constantly do my life over—if I’m not happy with something in my life, I will work to find solutions and create the life I want.

I will reflect on the past year—triumphs, risks taken, and unfinished business (to see a New Year Questionnaire, see my blog). I will create my new year on paper and on purpose, and I will become more of who I really am this year and this new decade. I will be authentic. May you be, too.

Krista Bocko lives in ‘Old Town’ Noblesville and loves to read in the middle of the night when all is quiet. Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a favorite book. She can be reached via her blog at http://www.cachetwrites.blogspot.com/.

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New Year Questionnaire
(I got this from a friend, I don't know who to credit)
Completing and Remembering the Past Year:


What was your biggest triumph this year?

What was the smartest decision you made this year?

What one word sums up and best describes your 2009 experience?

What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2009?

What was the most loving service you performed in 2009?

What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in 2009?

What are you most happy about completing in 2009?

Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life in 2009?

What was the biggest risk you took in 2009?

What was the biggest surprise in 2009?

What important relationship improved the most in 2009?

What compliment would you liked to have received in 2009?

What compliment would you most liked to have given in 2009?

What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2009?



Creating 2010:

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?

What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?

What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?

What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?

What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?

What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?

What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?

What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?

What about your work are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?

What is one undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?

What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?

Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?