2011 Resolutions: Report Card

I honestly meant to write this post before we left and schedule it to run at the beginning of the month but I also meant to do the same for my 2012 resolutions. Instead I spent most of January resolution-free, other than resolving to eat what I wanted in Australia and not feel guilty (I’m happy to report that there was zero weight gain on our trip, well, there was some but it’s all gone now so that’s a double bonus for me).

2011 Resolutions

• Practice one random act of kindness per week. (??/52)
• Send one “snail mail” letter a month. (20/12)
• Sell $500 worth of stuff on Craigslist. (125/500)
• Make it to church twice a month (at least). (12/12)
• Clean/organize closets. (4/4)
• Read one book a month. (16/12)
• Drink more water, eat less bad food, exercise.
• Get family photos taken.
• Cut my husband some slack.
• Use a calm, measured voice [with my kids] more often than a loud, short one.

I think I did pretty good when I look back at my list. There are a few things I can’t cross off but I know I worked on them and in other areas I surpassed my expectations for myself. Here are my thoughts on the above:

• While I don’t know that I could say I did 52 random acts of kindness, I did try to be more intentional about doing nice, thoughtful things for people (strangers, family and friends); tried to be more generous with my time and resources.
• Selling stuff on Craig’s list was really to help me purge things from the house, which I did by taking two carloads to Goodwill so while I didn’t sell the money value I wanted, I still got stuff out of the house.
• Loved our old church but really love our new church because it’s small enough and our kids love it so much that we can’t get away with sleeping in as often as we did in the past and not going to church on Sunday morning. So, so glad to be back in a more regular routine and to give that example to our children.
• I could not have known when I wrote that resolution that I would really get serious with getting healthier and that I would end up losing 50 pounds this year, but I did and wow does it feel great. There is still more to go, so I am by no means done but it’s amazing what a difference that change has made in my life – I am at a base level, so much happier (though I never would have said I wasn’t happy before).
• Love, love, love our family photos
• Still need to work on being a better person to those closest to me, but I think that might be something we all could say because those are also the people we know we can push against when we are frustrated and who get to see us at our worst (and best) because they are with us the most.