Goal Setting, Not Resolutions.

Goal Setting Not Resolutions.

I have mine, have you set yours?  First of the year, time to review the past, snug in the shallow spaces and move forward.  But it would be hard to do unless you did a bit of goal setting and reviewing what you already have.

Have you collected your newly acquired photos and put them in proper sequence and places in your system.  Photo Album, Family Genealogy Program, so they can be shared and family is aware you have them.

What about the Christmas news letters, you do add them to the system,  information from cousins, and other related kin.  Leaving for the future a glimpse into your past.

This year one question that was asked was: "what did you do on your weekends when a youth"?
The answers surprised me by some.  My family felt family was very important and we spent many weekends traveling to a cousins, aunts, uncles or whom ever was kin possibly visiting near.  

The War made our family closer in many ways due to the duty stations that they were at and the age that we were as youngsters.  Dad would come from work we would do the chores and he had arranged for neighbor to do the animals and we would head to Oregon, or San Diego, Ca. or Wheatland, Wyoming depending on the time we had.  We would go to  San Jose, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto to cousins and Mom's relatives.  We would go to the coast of Petaluma to visit Dad's family and some times to SLC to see his Sis. He loved to get off early and we headed to San Diego to see his brother for two days and we enjoyed our cousins and their friends.  It was a 12 hour drive most of the time and sometimes less.  Oregon was like 13  +hours drive at times.  Dad's sis for some time was at the Army base near Monterey and he would catch with them.  Many times if Uncle could get off he would come to the country to get away from the military daily routine. His other sis family was military also. His brother was military, Navy.


My husband's family said Sunday was no different than Friday or Tuesday.  They worked the fields and the animals and on rare occasions the family would take time off and visit with other family members and then it was mostly their Aunt Marie Pentico Thomas's, in Newton, Iowa.  Not even the siblings that were just a few miles down the road from their own home, came or visited very often.
Yet, the older adults talked of the visiting that was done by the family before this generation.

Others had mixed visiting and work ethics, some spent more time on church activities, it was an interesting bag of information.

Going over the files, learning I have blank spaces forgotten about that need addressed. Not just those two stubborn names that do not seem to break the surface. Susan Madison's parents and Noel Jones, parents.

Needing to patch the holes I need to have goals to work on these open spaces.

Looking at the tree what is missing? Did you add the information you received from Aunt Carrie but was to busy to do when received ?  What about what cousin Ken said about Great Uncle Bob and his wife, something he found in his family files?

Did you ask family for pictures of people that you have missing in your file?   Did you share the pictures you received with others in the Xmas letter?

See, goal setting helps  to direct you to the items that are skimpy and need filled.  Amazing once filled more, you suddenly see new information that was always there right before your eyes.

I can think of many more reasons to set goals but this is enough to get you thinking, I hope.

Have a great joyous, adventurous New Year.