February 2, 2025

2025 Theme: Year of feeling accomplished

My wife, mother-in-law, and I set a theme every year. Not a New Year’s resolution, but more of an orientation or intention that we’d like to carry through the year.

This year my theme was to feel more accomplished. I have no shortage of responsibilities that I keep myself preoccupied with, both professional and personal. Yet in spite of my activity, I struggle with always jumping to plan the next step, rather than savoring what I’ve just completed. I think at least part of that is fueled by a sense of feeling relief rather than accomplishment when I complete a big task. There’s always something else to relieve yourself of, right?

Today, I was reflecting on the past week and how I’ve been living up to the theme or not. And I don’t think the theme is a day to day thing necessarily, but it’s a remembering: “Look at what you’ve done and look at where you want to go.”

In this last week, I do feel accomplished regarding my relationships with my family. I’ve managed to see every sibling individually and my parents. Given that I live about a half an hour away from them, this is a somewhat rare occurrence that I can spend individual time with all the people in my family.

I had spent the prior five years in graduate school across two different degrees. While I lived with my family at the time, it was a bit different. I was much more oriented toward academics and my career. Now, in the second year as a full-time counselor living in another town, I’m realizing that weekly, monthly, and yearly habits really matter. Maintaining and deepening relationships falls into these longer-term habits, of routinely scheduling a dinner or a coffee date with those I care about. And I did that this week, which is great.

Wedding reception, Fall 2024

Life Pictures


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