Mission 2013

Gretchen at Second Blooming challenges us to use the word “mission” rather than “resolution” when assigning our Spin Cycle prompt this week.

Gretchen (a.k.a. “Cinnamon Carter“) writes, “So…no resolutions. …I need a word which conjures up something bigger, more dramatic. How about…missions. Yeah, I like that. An ‘operational task’, something to plan for and embark upon. It may even require a tight black jumpsuit like Emma Peel. Or not. A mission to clean out the garage sounds MUCH cooler than a resolution to clean out the garage, doesn’t it?”

And so I choose to accept the mission; here are my 5 missions for 2013. Don’t expect to see me in a black jumpsuit this year, however.

black jumpsuit
Emma Peel, rocking the black jumpsuit

1. Operation Laugh More

When one of my children spills the full glass of milk I just poured, I need to laugh. When I make a mistake, I need to laugh. When my kids are goofy, I need to laugh. Laughing instead of yelling would make my life better. And so…

2. Operation Yell Less

When one of my children spills the full glass of milk I just poured…I will not yell! When we are running late, I will not yell! When my kids will not eat the delicious food I just spent an hour making, I WILL NOT YELL!

3. Operation Exercise More

We are writing about the New Year, after all, and what would the New Year be without a resolution (ahem, I mean MISSION) to exercise more? When I exercise, I feel less stress. When I’m less stressed, I yell less, and therefore I laugh more. SO, in order to accomplish the first two missions, I need to include this special exercise mission. Also: MORE healthy eating. I have such good intentions, and then the snack monster attacks! Discipline, Ginny, discipline!

4. Operation Green

Grandma would use coffee cans to store her cookies. Mom would hand us bread bags to help slide our feet into our tight rubber snow boots. When I look at our garbage, it is full of plastic bags. We have a great recycling program where we live, but we still can’t recycle plastic bags. My mission is to use less plastic this year; to remember my reusable totes instead of forgetting them in the kitchen; and to pack lunches with more reusable containers. Stores that use plastic bags are required to recycle plastic bags, so I’m going to be more diligent about bringing in all the plastic bags I do use to recycle.

5. Operation Write More

Oh, this is the tricky one. I want to write more, yes, but I don’t just want to write drivel. I don’t want to just ramble with no purpose. As Raymond Chandler said, “Most critical writing is drivel and half of it is dishonest. It is a short cut to oblivion, anyway. Thinking in terms of ideas destroys the power to think in terms of emotions and sensations.” To write honestly with emotions and sensations…that is some mission!

What missions are you willing to accept for 2013?

 

Spin Cycle at Second Blooming

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19 Replies to “Mission 2013”

  1. Oh my, oh my, you've got me there! I think my missions would be: take up badminton again (and hopefully in the process loose a few pounds or kilos even), learn more and grammatically correct Norwegian (it's a struggle), eat less cookies/crisps/other yummy things that are not good for me. I know it's only three, but the first one would count a bit as two, so in the end it's four. Sort of…
    My recent post Red tape

  2. Excellent missions for the year! I actually think that the first two won’t be that hard to accomplish. Just putting the intention in the front of your mind will help you to catch yourself and turn things around. And I ADORE the Cinnamon reference- Barbara Bain is actually a dear friend of ours. She’s STILL gorgeous.

    You are linked!

  3. What great missions. I've been on a reuse, recycle, reinvent phase for awhile now. I even stopped my husband from throwing out one of those Christmas popcorn tins. Not sure what I plan to do with it but if nothing else it will make great storage.

  4. That is great…everyone of those missions you are accepting are just wonderful…and they make life wonderful. You have such a creative way of stating it also…now come one, go get that black suit!! Enjoy accepting your missions!!!

  5. All good missions! Really like the laugh more yell less. Our local Habitat Restore has recycling for everything but the bags so Walmart is a good drop point for me. And I have found a tapestry bag the is just the right size to hold our reusable bags helpful for making it easy to remember to take with into store. Two "special" bags are used for other shopping trips. I always enjoy your posts! Best wishes in you 2013 missions!

  6. I love your missions! I need to make it a mission to yell less also. I always feel horrible when I am yelling.

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