As we welcome in a new year, we often focus our goals on what we think we ‘should’ be doing.

However we soon get so bogged down with our priority list of ‘must do’s’ and appointments that we quickly lose sight of the resolutions and plans we had when we proclaimed, “This will be my best year yet!”

While we’re still freshly in this new year and shiny new decade, and while you’re still in the mindset of planning your goals and intentions, may I make a suggestion?

Add Desires to your list.  

Yes, that’s Desires with a capital D.

I’m talking about the big things you’ve longed to do. Things you’ll one day regret if you don’t do them. Bucket list items.

Add a few of them to your ‘must do’ list this year. (Or at the very least, start putting steps in place so you can tick them off your list sooner than later.)

Indulge me as I share a personal story…

I first discovered puffins in 1976. I was in the 6th grade preparing a science project and immediately fell in love with these colourful little birds. Thus began my dream of one day seeing one in the wild.

Fast forward 43 years and last spring while we were touring Scotland, my daughter booked a puffin excursion for us departing from the Isle of Mull. This was her birthday gift to me.

Boarding a boat, we were taken to an island about 45 mins offshore where we disembarked. We were instructed to stay on the paths to respect the environment. We had 30 minutes to explore the large island.

My daughter and I set off on a path to the right and followed it as it led us higher. The views were spectacular! We passed a few other ‘explorers’ who were returning to their boat and followed their directions: “Follow the path and just over the hill, you’ll see one.”

I was SO excited!

As cliff dwellers, puffins can be hard to spot from on land. But we waited patiently looking in the area where others had their cameras trained. And soon – Pop! – one poked its head out of it’s cliffside burrow, bobbed around the grassy ledge for a bit, then flew down to the sea.

If that was the only puffin I would see that day, it was a dream come true; a real live puffin, in person, and in it’s natural unspoiled habitat! O-M-G! We could go home now.

But no, we weren’t done….

Our time on the island was soon up and we had to make our way back to the boat, my daughter urging me to hurry, worried the boat would leave without us. But I didn’t want to leave. “One more. Please let me see just one more puffin,” I said to myself while trying to remain grateful for the one I had seen. No luck – only the one puffin.

Once back on board we set off for another hour over choppier waves, huddled under big yellow rain jackets that protected us from both the cold winds and cold ocean spray bound for a second island and the promise of more puffins.

As we approached the island, as if on cue, the clouds cleared, the sun shone and we could see numerous puffins swimming in the ocean and darting to and from the cliffs. Gulls of various sorts soared above us too. All were dipping and diving into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic to catch a bite to eat.

Our guide instructed us on island etiquette: stay on the paths, don’t leave any garbage and be sure to stay a few meters away from the edge of the cliff where the soft grass is. That’s where the puffin’s burrows are and each would have eggs at this time of year.

He also assured us that the puffins actually appreciate our presence because when humans are on the island, their predators – the gulls and other egg-stealing birds – leave, allowing the puffins to return to their nest and tend to what needs doing. I hoped he was telling us the truth.

We had over an hour to enjoy this location.

I seriously couldn’t get off the boat fast enough.

It was a steep climb up the path to the cliff top but what awaited us was more than I could have imagined.

At least a hundred puffins were scattered along the cliff edge, ducking in and out of their burrows, keeping vigil over the eggs like little tuxedoed soldiers; wings tucked behind their backs, strutting back and forth guarding their piece of land and waiting for their mate to return and relieve them of duty.

And the best part? They really didn’t seem to mind us being there.

I was truly in my glory. Camera at the ready, I began snapping knowing I would never be able to capture their personality or the true majesty of the landscape, and hoping I’d always remember my pure joy at being here.

I tried to be in the moment. “Stop taking pictures and enjoy the experience,” I kept reminding myself. But photography is also a love of mine so that’s a really big ask, especially when two loves converge like they had here. But stop I did from time to time. And I was glad I heeded my own advice.

I wanted to share this story with you because when I looked back on this past year, THIS was what stood out for me.

And a few other firsts and bucket-list items I ticked off on that trip too such as: traveling solo to Ghent and Bruges where I saw Michelangelo’s only sculpture found outside of Italy, as well as the Ghent altarpiece; driving on the other side of the road in Scotland on what were sometimes one-lane two-direction roads!; staying in a beautiful luxury hotel in Ireland on my birthday which overlooked a gorgeous national park when during my birthday dinner a bright double rainbow suddenly appeared over the lake. Have to say, it doesn’t get much more magical than that!

Life is meant to be enjoyed.

When I looked back on this past year, I wasn’t revelling in how big my list had grown, the sales I’d made, or the courses and products I’d created.

Instead what first stood out was that one single day with the puffins. It was a dream-come-true moment in my life that filled my heart and soul and rejuvenated my spirit.

I encourage you to spend some time thinking about your bucket list items and select at least one to check off your list this year. Then ask yourself, “What can I begin doing today and in the coming months to make it a dream come true?”

By the way, this is what joy looks like… (My daughter snapped this pic when we got back on the boat after our time on ‘puffin island’.)

I wish you a joy-filled year and many many dreams come true. #LiveYourBestLife (You only get one…)

What will you add to your ‘must do’ list now? Share below, I’d love to know.