I was reflecting on goals last week, having bought my 2013 Mi Goals Diary, having a look back at what I said I wanted to have happen by the end of 2012, and what actually did.
My number one goal was to get my second book, Akilina: Out of the Woods, online.
My second book, Akilina: Out of the Woods
But what I really wanted to achieve was to sell 10,000 books. Somewhere in the course of the year, I upped this number to 3,000,000, just to choose a random, huge figure. Did I achieve that? Well, I got my book online, on Amazon.com, but, sadly, my US bank account, where I’m meant to get paid for the millions of books I’ve sold, is not accepting money. So good thing I didn’t quite hit the 3,000,000 mark. But I’m mighty pleased at how well the book has done, at the media profile it helped me generate, at the talks I got to do for Southern FM radio and appearing at the Bayside Literary Festival on a really scary stage. For book club talks, and talks to writing groups, and talking to friends in the school playground, and forming a blog that seems to inspire others.
I think it is so important to celebrate what goes well. Luke, of Chameleon Designs, did a fantastic cover and interior design for the book, and was helpful in finding me an e-book designer, so I could sell that way too.
Goal 2 – get my coaching business started again. I was a coach for ten years before we moved back to Melbourne, but I’d taken some time out to raise my young children. I wasn’t sure about going back to it after all this time, and I sort of forgot about this goal in all the book excitement. But I did it in the end, with the help of the lovely business cards designed by (you guessed it!) Luke, of Chameleon Designs. I completed a coaching course in the middle of the year, to remind me of why I coach, to see if I was still good at it, and to test whether I wanted to do it again. It was with great delight that I welcomed my first clients again towards the end of 2012. It was like coming home again to a skill set that is really who I am.
One of my other big goals, which I’d forgotten I’d even written was to “complete a series of personal and spiritual adventures”. I’m not even sure what I meant by this, as I didn’t add the specific detail, other than to tick the categories of adventure, health/fitness, and travel. Well. This one I nailed. It began with the Run Melbourne 10km race.
Just after Run Melbourne
Granted, travel was only by train to Melbourne, but it is always an adventure when my family meets me for a race. And the joy of running fast on bitumen when I’d been training solely on twisty trails – well, I loved it!
Shortly after this was the Salomon Trail Series run by Rapid Ascent. What tremendous joy it brings me, remembering the four races of that series. Studley Park, close to suburbia, but a world away.
Studley Park with a new friend hot on my tail!
Plenty Gorge, where we were meant to cross some flooded rivers, but instead waded through a world of mud.
Plenty Gorge Race
Silvan Reservoir, the hills that took my breath away but gave it back in exhilarating downhill.
Great Joy at Silvan Reservoir Race
Oh, and meeting Scott and Ben and Chris and Adam and Dan and Stu, who would become Team Inspiration, as well as friends. Together, we lived the greatest adventure of all, the Surfcoast Century Ultramarathon, that 100km monster that four of us tackled as a relay team, and finished. That was the beginning of Team Inspiration, which just keeps growing, our mission to inspire others to get out there and live life. After the Surfcoast Century, some of us tackled the last race in the Salomon Trail Series the next day at Anglesea, just to finish it off.
Team Inspiration: Dan, Patricia, Ben and Scott
My leg of the Surfcoast Century, 21 km along the beach from Anglesea to Torquay
Anglesea Race, smiling all the way
I sorrowed when that series ended, hit the expected down that comes after huge work and highs. So I quickly signed up for the Marysville Half-Marathon, and felt my pulse lift again, and in November, I found my friends again two-and-a-half hours from the city, in the woods and near the waterfall. Scott, Ben and Claire all competed in this one, and again, my family braved the long, wonderful day out.
Happily running in the Marysville Half-Marathon. Thanks for the photo Dandyrunner.com!
And then, just when I thought the year was wrapped up, we finally gained a swimmer for Team Inspiration and were able to complete the Anaconda Adventure Race in Lorne, a relay event for our team with Mick swimming, Warren kayaking, me running and Ben mountain biking. And yes, my family came along again. We got up at 4:15 am to get to the start on time!
Me, Ben, Warren and Mick of Team Inspiration at the Anaconda Adventure Race in Lorne
To say it has been a big year is an understatement. It is a year in which I came alive again, a year when I drew a line in the sand, and reminded myself this is my one and only glorious life, and I had to grab it with both hands and live it.
Some of the adventures were smaller and more intimate, but rewarding in a different way. Hikes in the Dandenong Ranges with my family, boogie boarding in Ocean Grove, holding my husband’s hand as we sat at Fairfield Park Boat House, on an “adventure date”. And making a Princes Castle Cake for my 7-year-old daughter. Cheering my son onto his soccer final, and watching him save goal after goal, to win the championship. Oh, and adopting two kittens.
Baby Jake
Baby Jessica
It has been an immense year, full of joy, challenge, sometimes heartbreak, and most often exhilaration. I will be winding down, as we all are this time of year. For me, the end of the year is a time to reap of the joy we have sown, and to plant the seeds we want to grow next year.
So here’s to 2013 – bring it on!
Related articles
- Anaconda Adventure Race in Lorne 2012 (patriciaabowmer.wordpress.com)
- We Did It! Team Inspiration Tackles the Anaconda (patriciaabowmer.wordpress.com)
- Of Waterfalls, trails, and water reservoirs: the Marysville Half-Marathon (patriciaabowmer.wordpress.com)
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