It's time to come back to the blog.
December fast approaches, and I'm feeling reflective a little bit early this
year. Maybe it’s because this year was so full.
There were opportunities for learning at a
new job, and the end of said job. A return to home and opportunities for reviving
neglected responsibilities at home. Baby #4 came in October and my 30
th
birthday looms near the end of the year, at once granting feelings of youth and
age, beginnings and endings to different chapters in our lives.
We started escrow on a new house last week,
investing in a newly imagined future, then realizing it means leaving our current
home and neighbors and a little piece of our hearts behind.
The joys, blessings, and reasons to be
grateful out shine the sorrows, sufferings, and sighs that blur into the background,
emphasizing the contrast, adding to our appreciation, and increasing our hope.
With all this going on, I couldn’t wait until New Year’s.
I'm getting a jump start on 2013 with some
Thanksgiving resolutions.
1)
Eat with intention.
I hate to admit it, but gluttony is one of my favorite sins. Blessed with abundance, our society seems to
excuse this with ease. The holidays provide
especially strong temptations, whether due to the excess of celebration, the power
of nostalgia, or simply the encouragement of indulgence for indulgence sake. It reminds me how truly lucky we are to have
so much and how many people the world over are without. I’m simultaneously saddened by our waste in
such extravagance and how I personally overindulge. It’s my earnest goal to indulge less this
year. It’s not solving world hunger, but
I’ll be aware and work towards more temperance in my little world.
2) Lose weight, exercise, get in shape. This is the double whamming following
#1. At this point in my life, I need to
start from scratch. I want to walk 4
days a week. If I can’t for whatever
reason, I won’t let it derail me, and I’ll make it a priority again the next
day. Walking, working up to running,
graduating to other activities is the goal. This will
take many baby steps. Maybe next year I
can set a more concrete goal of running a 5K, but I’m not there yet. And I’m okay with that.
3) Improve personal grooming habits. No more nail biting, knuckle cracking or
other various impolite activities. It’s not
just impolite, it’s unsanitary (I can hear my mother’s voice). This is on my list every year. What is so challenging for me, I think, is
that I can be good all week long, and then in two minutes I do so much damage
that it feels like negative progress. And
yet, I still believe it’s a worthwhile pursuit, even if I continue to fail. I think each year I actually want to succeed
a little bit more than the year before. And
one year, I will.
4) Make time for chores each day. This is a goal to benefit the other people in
my life. I know that I can’t clean everything
every day and still have the quality time with everyone that is most important
to us. The idea is to have a more
organized home. If everything has a place, it's easier to clean a little bit every day and to access the things we need. Example numero uno: The kids should know
where to put the toys away, and we should require them to do so each day. I think this teaches them discipline that
will serve them throughout life. Also,
our house will be less like a natural disaster and more like a home.
With a move on the horizon, this year organization
is key. I want to spend time each day clearing
clutter, organizing what we need to keep, donating useful things that are no
longer useful to us, and tossing the rest. If I do this every day, I think the move
will be less intimidating and might actually be enjoyable. Plus, I’ll have systems in place that could
translate to the new house. The payoff
here could be huge!
When I was working, it was easy to put off chores
for the more important things in life – like quality time with my husband and
children. Now that I’m home, I know that
much of my free time goes to Facebook, email, and more preferable (read: more fun!)
projects. I won’t deprive
myself of these things entirely, but chores will come first. I hope that a little bit each day will make a big difference.
5) Blog every day. This
won’t translate to a post a day. But I
want some practice writing everyday – for the good of my own soul. Maybe one day it’ll translate into something good
for our bank account too. That is not the goal this year, but if I want to attain that goal some day, I have to start with a little bit each day.
This is mostly a post about me, and I apologize for how "me" orientated it is. Don’t
worry, if you are still reading this far, this won't be par for the course.
Please feel free to share in the comments your own New Year's Resolutions.
I wish you perseverance and courage for your own goals, and excitement and joy in the unknowns ahead. And remember it's about the journey, not the destination. Here’s to a brand new year,
GT <><
