New Year, New Me (Resolutions)

I love when a new year approaches. It’s out with the old, in with the new! I have always been obsessed with all things organized. Shopping for a crisp new planner for the new year is, for me, like a kid shopping in a candy store! I also love setting New Year’s resolutions! They usually consist of things like, be a better wife, don’t yell, and other “yeah right, who am I kidding” goals.

Unfortunately I am better at writing them up on pretty paper and hanging them in a special place in my home, than actually following them. So when this year rolled around, I wondered what I was going to do. Usually, I look back at the previous years to see what I accomplished. This year I didn’t even dare. I think that’s why so many people claim they don’t like resolutions. Half the time we set them and don’t follow them. It’s true. It happens. Life gets busy and you forget. I am not super disciplined so I am definitely guilty of doing that. I do, however, still think setting goals is important. I like to set personal goals, and family goals. This year instead of making a list of things I want to do (and probably won’t), I decided to live more carefree. I decided that instead of committing myself to the impossible, to make my life possible. I decided this year I would “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” True words spoken by Mrs. Frizzle from “The Magic School Bus!” I have an ongoing bucket list of things to see and do. Half of my list consists of things I will probably never do, but are fun to think about, such as stepping foot on all 7 continents. I also have some that are very attainable, such as ice skating on a pond, or taking a sewing class. This year I am going to try and do one thing on my list every month.

I feel like, for me, it’s so easy to get stuck in the monotony of the every day, I am so “busy” with the everyday things that I forget to live a little. So this year, I hope to make time for those things that I “don’t have time for” and do them! When I had my daughter, I thought of how there were so many things “I didn’t get to do” before I had kids. I felt, in a way, that the spontaneity of the single life was over, but I realized it doesn’t have to be. I can include my family and we can make wonderful memories by including them. I don’t have to feel like I am “tied down” or that my spontaneity is lost because now I have a whole team behind me who are my cheerleaders and right there with me accomplishing my goals!

My Young Mormon Family

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The idea of doing better this year than last is a good one. But I am going to try not be so hard on myself if I fail. It will happen. It’s inevitable. It doesn’t make me a bad person, or a bad mother or wife, it makes me human. One thing about being Mormon is we are taught at a very young age about the Atonement. Christ died for us so when we made mistakes we could repent and start over. We don’t have to wait a whole year to set new goals and start over. With the Atonement no matter how big our mistakes are, we can start over every day.

Instead of setting the goal of “not yelling at my children” I am just going to focus on striving every day to be a little better. If I had a bad day yesterday, that’s ok. At the end of the day, I can pray to my Heavenly Father, close my eyes, and start over. I can be a little better tomorrow than today, because tomorrow is a new day.

I read a quote the other day by Elder David A Bednar, a member of the Quorom of the Twelve for the LDS church. He said:

“If today you were a little better than you were yesterday, then that’s enough” (Bednar, David A., Act in Doctrine, 2012)

Just be enough. That’s all our Heavenly Father asks of us. He loves me for who I am and I should too!

Related posts:

Pressing the Reset Button: New Year, New Life Goals, Part 2 of 3 Pressing the Reset Button: New Year, New Life 3 of 3 Family Time: Are You Up for the Challenge? Family History and Motherhood