Dusting off what remains

It's February.
I don't really do 'new-year-resolutions' and I don't typically set goals anymore because I wanted to live more free than I have sometimes... (and I also got tired of feeling so defeated by un-reasonable goals.)
But this past year has been a different season of life for me and I've been privileged to have more restful days and more time to accomplish things. So it seemed right that I set some reasonable goals and live more disciplined so I could reach them.

I spent the past several months telling myself: "I will start running again in February". If I just get up a little earlier, I can fit in a run every day before my family is up. But when February 1st arrived, I lay in bed wondering why I thought running would be a good idea. However, now I've managed to run 4 days in a row and I find that I enjoy it so much once I get going. I haven't really been a proper 'runner' in about 10 years, but this time, I would like to keep up my running long enough to finish a big race (like a half or whole marathon) in the summer or fall.

Besides running again, some other goals have sprung up and I am now committed to making a community cookbook with some friends and recording an album of my songs just for fun. I also continue to struggle through elementary-school piano pieces and re-visit scales that I haven't thought of in years, and this afternoon I plan to play cello with a pianist friend - which I'm looking forward to immensely! French is fast-disappearing for me, so I am trying to listen to French radio for about 20 minutes each day... just listen- so I don't completely forget. And I have now downloaded some Korean flash-cards, because I would like to learn Korean and what better time than now?! I wonder if I can still learn anything, but it's worth a try.

So many parts of me that have been shelved for many years need dusting and use. It's always hardest right at first to see how much I've lost over time and tonight will be another one of those moments, I think, as I've been invited to play soccer with some of the other staff here. It's been so long since I've done all of this stuff, but it feels good to get to do them again and I am praising God for this season He's given me.