Each new year is a chance for a fresh start on your life's goals.

Who wants to be a loser? Me. I want to be a bigger loser. For people with weight problems, this subject is inevitably brought to the forefront of every new year. I am no different. I set out last year with wonderful and lofty goals for fitness and weight loss. I wanted to lose 50 pounds last year. Gasp! Yes that was my goal. It was even plastered on the side of my cpu. It's still there. Thank goodness I did not gain any weight. Thank goodness I did lose weight...nine whole pounds. That was good. That wasn't enough. With all of the life changes I went through last year that goal of 50 was most likely unattainable. I started out strong...but somewhere in September or October I fell off the vegetable wagon. I don't know what happened. My taste for veggies took a nosedive and I couldn't get it back. I would walk through the produce aisles at the store and I couldn't bring myself to partake. They just looked awful and nothing I did could bring it back. My diet consisted of under-indulging on the good stuff and over-indulging with the not so good. So with God's grace and help I am re-introducing veggies back into my diet. This year my goal is to lose 30 pounds. I know this will go a long way to my becoming a bigger loser!

I want to be a junkie in this coming year. No, not that kind of junkie. I am a fitness junkie...an overweight junkie at best. As many of you who have read my lens on my journey to fitness, I started on a cross-country virtual venture to regain fitness that I lost through some previous health issues. I've been riding and walking my way from Virginia to California regaining strength and fitness. I started on the first day of spring and by years end I have traversed 465 miles of this 3000 plus journey. I had really hoped to be at the Indiana state line and Cincinnati by years end. But actually I am still in West Virginia. I started strong and somewhere around October my motivation took a nosedive. Hmmm. Seems like I have heard this word before. I struggled with that for the first time on the journey; but I persisted as much as I could. December found me on a month-long sabbatical. I didn't have the extra time I needed to give to this project...so I set it aside for a few weeks through the holidays. I felt like I went from a fitness junkie to a fitness flunky. This year I am renewed in my efforts to complete this journey. I am setting 2 goals this year. The first is to reach Indianapolis by the first day of spring, my one-year anniversary. The second goal is to reach Hays, Kansas by the end of the year which is the half-way point of the trip. It will take some due diligence to get there. I am reaching for those goals this year. I want to fulfill my inner fitness-junkie!

My third goal is going to take some learning and application. The simple truth is I want to be found! What I mean is I want to be found on the internet. When I try my hardest to put my lenses and links out there for everyone to find...someone keeps hiding them. I must unravel the mysteries of that rascal called SEO. You know what I mean. Last year I climbed over large learning curves to become functional on the internet. This year I have to run down and capture SEO and make him my friend. I want him to go to work for me so that I won't be lost in traffic on the highways of the internet. I want to be found!

I want to be give out! What do I mean by that? I want to be a bigger giver. I have had seeds of philanthropy that have been dormant in my life for some time and have been unfulfilled. I don't have millions to give away, just yet. But I will never rule out that fact. If God makes a way for that to happen, it will. But I have a means and a voice now through Squidoo to make giving easier. I've had some charities that have been dropped in my heart lately that I want to pursue. My giving may be small...but many giving can become great. I want to use my voice to encourage others to become givers.

Those two charities are Susan Kennedy's Buckhawk Center Animal Shelter and the second one is One Spirit, an organization that reaches out to the Lakota Indians in South Dakota. These are my goals for giving; I want to be "give out" by the end of the year.

In addition to being give out...I want to be a taker! Being a taker has a somewhat bad connotation. The kind of taker I want to be involves taking back my core body strength. Just as Kermit the frog says that "it isn't easy being green", I say it isn't easy being older. You have to fight to maintain not only fitness but your inner core body strengths. You lose those things if you don't purpose to keep them. I am about a year and a half shy of being 70. Another gasp in my life! I am not going to let my strength slip away like the morning dew.

I like to participate in Senior Games which are events for those over 50. Competitions are held all across America every year where you can participate in many different activities. All are designed to keep seniors active and strong. My events are javelin throwing, discus throwing and shot putting. These are some of my Senior Games medals from past competitions. These activities are wonderful for maintaining a strong inner body core. I've missed being able to participate in the last several years because of circumstances beyond my control; and my goal is to return and compete this year in these events. I call them my age defying sports. So I am going to be a taker again!

I want to be a bigger squid. When I started in Squidoo in January 2010, I had no clue how long it would take for me to become a Giant Squid. I am by no means the fastest squid on the block. I was blinded by that very large learning curve I had to overcome. Last week that goal became reality. I was thrilled beyond words. I experienced feelings about becoming a Giant Squid that I never imagined. I realized that I was at a different place, a much bigger place that I couldn't even express. I had never given much thought to any higher goals than that. Now I have a greater desire to be a bigger squid...a Giant 100 Squid. It just seemed to jump all over me this week. It kept speaking to me and saying: "Go higher, go bigger. You can do it". So my goal for this year is Giant Squid 100 because I want to be a bigger squid in the sea!

This is my follow up on my goals for 2011. Most of my goals are still needing to be completed. I am making these goals my 2012 goals and will continue to pursue them. I am losing weight. I have designated all 81 lenses to receive a portion of my earnings for the two charities I mentioned. I am working hard on my fitness program doing walking, riding, throwing javelin, shot put and discus. I am 15 lenses away from applying for Giant Squid 100. Lastly and very important I am improving on my internet skills through the use of keywords and other skills. These goals are going to continue to be my goals for this year. I will update as I make more progress.

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New Year Fresh Start was updated May 29, 2012.