Happy New Year! (one month and 6 days late)
I'm starting this year off differently then I normally do. I've never been one to be into New Year's resolutions. Actually, I'm fairly certain that I have never even made one. But, this year I have decided to jump on the band wagon. Don't get me wrong, I think the whole idea is great. Starting things with a clean slate, from this moment on, fresh starts. Honestly, one of my main life mottos is, "I did what I did then because it was what I knew, now that I know better, I do better." Where would anyone be if they never had the opportunity to change?
Instead of calling them resolutions, I prefer evolutions.
You see, resolutions are the means to fixing a problem. Most of my goals are not necessarily problems (depends on how much of an optimist you want to be as well) just things that need to be tweaked, dusted off, freshened up and changed ever so slightly.
In order to better increase my odds of success, I have made the decision to share them with all of you :)
1. Increase the amount of time I read and decrease the amount of time I sit on my phone/iPad/computer wasting time doing God knows what while my brain disintegrates into a pile of mush. I'm already an avid reader but I can do better.
2. Cut out even more processed food from our diet. This is one that I have already been working on and one I was doing well before I was aware what the difference between "real" and fake food was. It scares the crap out of me when I go to the grocery store and watch what people put in their carts. 30 boxes of hamburger helper, cake mixes galore, desserts drenched in food coloring, spam, for pete sake, soda, soda, soda, and the worst of them all, velveeta. Have we all forgotten what actual food is if it doesn't come in a box, bag, or can? And the kicker of it all, not one single piece of fresh produce. I made a decision long before my son was born that he would know what real food was and where it came from. So I will continue to do my best to give him the best food I can. If you have never heard the term real food look it up, see how much food you actually consume that is real and how much of it is, well, pretend. You will be amazed. I was. (stepping down from my soap box).
3. Exercise more. Gah. Isn't that so cliche? Seriously though, it needs to happen.
4. Enjoy the little moments more. Stop always looking for what's next and what tomorrow will be like. Just be, here, now, today. Everyday.
5. Send out birthday cards. For Pete sake, if there ever was a person who is the ABSOLUTE worst at that, it is me. I'm sure all my family and friends reading this can attest to the honesty in my words. Probably because they didn't receive a card from me this past year. I am so sorry. If you did receive one, that was not at all my doing but instead a divine miracle. The funny thing is, I buy the cards and even write in them but somewhere between my kitchen counter and my mailbox they become lost. Hmmm....
6. Write on my blog regularly. This may or may not be the 5th time I have written this on here. It's a work in progress.
7. Love more. Love my husband, son, family, friends, strangers, people who are mean, rude and disrespectful to me. People who are different than me. People who think, believe, love, and look differently than me. Love them all MORE. I believe love is a choice. There are days when people are just down right nasty to me and although, the easy response would be to hand them over a big helping of the crap they are handing out, I want to show them love, instead. Even if it's the last thing in the world I think they deserve, even if being snotty and hurtful would prove to somehow be that much more satisfying. I know I will never perfect this and this is not an attempt to try to perfect it, by any means. It will still be something I have to work on everyday of my life. But the heart of the matter is this: I do not want to be someone who is filled with hate, anger, hostility and harsh words. The only way to conquer those things is to choose love.
