2013 Resolutions

Prior to blogging, I was never really one for making annual resolutions (aside from the time I resolved to only flip Simon the bird one time a day – I made that resolution, BTW, and I know I’m just the best wife ever). But I have attempted to set them for the past two years, knowing that by publicly posting them, I’m more likely to keep them, or at least try. I don’t think resolutions are necessary for a happy life, or that you have to set them at the first of the year, but it’s been working for me – I’d encourage you to do whatever works for you.

I think realistic goals are a good thing and I believe that if you don’t meet your goals, you don’t beat yourself up about them. There is no score chart, no scale by which we are measured for these things so it is pointless to feel guilty, but it is not pointless to try. It’s in the trying that we improve, that we learn more about who we are and often, it’s how we make new friends, friends who join us for part of the journey and cheer us on when it gets tough. Last year, for me, was a tough one but my friends made the difference and helped me stay upright and moving forward (even if in inches). I’m happy to bid it adieu, but 2012 really was a gift, in that it taught me that I can’t do it all (whether I think I can or others think I am) and asking for help and doing life with other people is the way to be happy. And I’m so glad to have lessons to be learned, to continue to work on being a better person.

Life is meant to be dynamic, not stagnant.

That said, here are my resolutions for 2013 and here’s hoping they are kept but I reserve the right to not complete them and to not feel bad about that. Sometimes (often), despite our best intentions, life has a way of leading us in a completely different direction than where we think we are headed.

1. Read more books (a minimum of one a month)
2. Pray EVERY night with the boys [so far, every night Liam has asked to pray for Joseph, you know, Jesus’ adoptive father]
3. Eat more meals with all four of us around our kitchen table [this happens rarely as there are only two days a week when we are all home at the same time and not sleeping]
4. Be a better friend to my family
5. Prepare house for selling/renting (and preferably, do one of those things)
6. Work on non-blog writing
7. Host a dinner party
8. Lose 50 pounds
9. Move 500 miles (walking, bike, elliptical) [If you want to join this effort, sign up for this group on Facebook.]
10. Go on a family vacation
11. Spend more days at the beach
12. Procrastinate and worry less; laugh more
13. List my gratitude on a weekly basis