About fifteen years ago I started a New Year’s Eve tradition for myself. Tired of making resolutions that I’d then feel guilty about not keeping, I started doing an inventory of my life. The idea was born out of my “Bucket List” (things I wanted to do before I died), long before the movie and before the term were popularized.

Each New Year’s eve I do an Inventory. Yes, an inventory of my life.

I take some colored paper, cut the pages in half, and at the top of each page I write a topic (and the date!) Topics are almost the same year to year, and go something like this:

Things I Like About my Life
Things I Dislike About my Life
Things I am Willing to CHANGE about my Life
Things I want to Do Before I Die
Things I want to Accomplish This Year
Things I Like About Myself
Things I am Willing to CHANGE about my Self
Things I am Grateful For

I do this as a way of re-focusing my life, remembering what’s important to me as it may have gotten lost in the minutia of everyday living.

And I always end with the Gratitude. I think it’s important to keep focused on all that’s good in our lives, even as we desire to change certain things.

I am wishing everyone who continues to tune into my blog HEAPS of things to be grateful for in 2011.

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