Making lists, checking them twice

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2023 (617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It seems to me that there are two kinds of people… those who make lists and those who don’t.

Making lists has been an essential part of my life. I think the habit began during my university years. As a teacher, there was the never ending “to do” list. As a mother, there was the children’s schedule list. As a housewife there was the weekly grocery list. As a homeowner, there was the annual repair list. As a traveller, there was the packing list, and as a tourist the “must see” list.

You get the idea. I like to be organized, and I like to physically see what needs to be done.

Knowing my list obsession, you will understand my complete and utter joy when I discovered The 52 Lists Project: A Year of Weekly Journaling Inspiration, a guided journal by Moorea Seal that I found tucked away in a thrift store in Victoria last October.

This journal was designed for me. There is a new list prompt to guide me through each week of the new year. More importantly, at the end of each exercise is a “take action” section which urges you to take a first step towards achieving your goal. We all know how easy it is to procrastinate when it comes to getting the job done.

The journal includes a variety of topics to guide me through the year. For example: “List the

things that make you feel healthy in mind, body, and soul.” Another prompt asks you to list the people who brighten your day. Yet another asks you to list the difficult moments in your past that have shaped you for the better. These are much more engaging than grocery or packing lists.

I began my list project on Jan. 1. Imagine my pleasure when I cracked open the journal to Page 1…“List your goals and dreams for this year.”

And so I began my new year’s list: Be healthy. Be happy. Be loving. Be kind. Be generous. And finally, as Ralph Waldo Emerson so wisely wrote, “Write it in your heart that everyday is the best day of the year.” The list is short, but important to me.

Now the hard part begins. I am taking my first steps towards achieving these goals, because every list-maker knows that the only thing better than writing a list is finishing the goal. There is no greater satisfaction than ultimately crossing the item off the list. Happy new year to all the list makers out there.