New Year’s Resolutions - Do You or Don’t You?

Monday, January 5, 2009, by Leigh Anne

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I want to begin this post by stating that I LOVE my children!

I LOVE when my three full size adult college students come home with all their adult sized STUFF!

I LOVE it when they bring  - three laptops, i-pods, cell phones, Blackberry and all the assorted plugs, chargers and head phones that go with them.   And then there are the suitcases full of clean and dirty clothes.

I also LOVE the piles of big shoes that end up everywhere! Theirs and their friends!

I LOVE that my food bill triples and my kitchen becomes a 24 hour diner.

I LOVE having people roaming my house all hours of the night - some going to bed after one a.m. and then one getting up at 3:30 a.m. to go to work!  Did I mention I am a very light sleeper!

Really - I truly do LOVE it - O.K. - so most of the time I LOVE it!

I LOVE having all of my family home under one roof!

But I must admit, now that they have gone back to school I am LOVING how quiet my house is - at least for a while.

I am LOVING fixing pancakes for Sunday dinner.  This would never have flown with my two “no meal is complete without meat” college boys.

The college kids did leave something behind though- their germs!  Four of the six of us are down with the flu - so far I’m still standing!!! 

Yes, I put a throwing up child on an airplane - sorry Southwest!

Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my children and I LOVE having them home but I also LOVE my house when they are not here - that’s a good thing right?!

Now that it is a little quieter around here I’ve had a little time to reflect.  Time to think about the new year ahead and to review over last year.  

I pulled out my list of Goals for 2008 to see how I had done.

Last January I set a total of eleven goals and I am proud to announce that of those eleven I  accomplished ONE - yes ONE!  And that goal was finished at 6:00 p.m. on January 31, 2008!  Nothing like cutting it close!  I could feel bad and beat myself up but I don’t because although I didn’t accomplish all eleven goals I did make progress.

Did I read the 100 books?  No, but I did read 32 and that was more than the 29 I read in 2007! 

Did I walk 3 times a week and do strength training 2 times a week -No, but I did walk 2 times a week (o.k. - well, most weeks and there was the Wii Fit I did once or twice!)

Did I get all my family scrapbooks up to date?  No, but I did make several albums as gifts this year and kept our family blog current which is a great virtual scrapbook.

Did I travel to a foreign country?  No, unless you count Utah!  But I had some wonderful visits there with family and friends.

Did I hit my target weight?  No, but at least I didn’t gain any weight - o.k. so there are those couple of holiday pounds….

The only goal I accomplished is one I have set for the last 5 years and have successfully completed each year - to read a certain book of scripture each year. 

Tessa goes back to school tomorrow - after a 24 day Winter Break thanks to Arctic Blast 2008 and I’m going to use some of that quiet time to set some new goals for 2009. 

I think I might just scratch out 2008 and add 2009 to that list of goals and start over! Although I think I will take that 100 books a year goal down to 50!

As I shared with you before - my focus for 2009 is to Find Joy in MY Journey!  If I accomplish all my goals - great!  If I don’t -at least I made progress and hopefully I found Joy doing it!

So my question for you is - do you make New Year’s Resolutions or goals?  What’s one of your goals for 2009?  Do you have a mantra or word that will be your focus in 2009?  Read this great article if you need some inspiration in choosing a word. She also has a great list of words to choose from here if you need some help!  You’ll see my word on the list - JOY!

Leave a comment below and let me know what one of your goals is or what your word for 2009 is!  Happy New Year!

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17 Responses to “New Year’s Resolutions - Do You or Don’t You?”

We went on vacation for New Years and took the sick to my parents - whoops! Oh, the holidays…

My word (since fall) has been “listen” but I still rely on my word from the previous year a lot - “embrace”.

My only goal so far is to clean the house now that the kids are back in school!
I think I will look through the word list. I’ll try to find one that means: not-stressed-out-all-the-time-because-I-am-finally-organized!

I had grown kids home and a new Grandson wonderful times but very busy indeed. I plan on taking time for me this year a facial every other month ?? and working on my scrapbooks get them more caught up (hope)CELEBRATE

I recently read the following quote from Wynonna Jude and I like it so much and is so fitting…

“Rather than Prioritize my schedule, I now schedule my priorities.”

In today’s corporate that yes feeds over into our personal life’s this seems to be the norm, this year though, I will schedule my priorities.

I do make resolutions every year and most of them I actually keep. I think it is a great time to reinvent yourself and accomplish great things. My mantra for the year 2009 is “Kindness matters.”

I love the word idea, but I am having trouble narrowing it down. Thanks for the inspiration!

My husband and I have been really blessed…neither of us have been sick. My parents and my niece have been really sick.

Do NOT feel guilty about enjoying the house without your “big” kids. You’ve done your job when they are moving on to their own lives and not setting at home being waited on. It takes some adjustment, but don’t feel guilty. :)
My word for this year is TRUST. We’re going through some difficult times in our life and I’m hanging on to my trust in God to get me through. And I did finish one resolution for last year and feel really good about it–now we’ll see what happens in 2009. :)

I made about 4 goals for the year. Basically they are to get more organized, work on accepting myself, work toward a healthier lifestyle, and spend more daily time with God. While I am pretty sure I will have missteps…I think I can handle these! We’ll find out in a year! ☺

I loved your comments Leighanne! I laughed so hard because it was like reading my own words!I found last years list while winter/spring cleaning and wondered what I was posssibly thinking last year when I made my list!!! I’ve heard it said that “Life happens while we’re busy making plans”.I’ve been so busy completeing my past this last year that I haven’t taken time to begin my future. Getting rid of incompleted tasks has freed me up and lifted something that feels so freeing!I’m making plans for this new year but one of the biggest challenges I’ve set for myself is to slow down, be in the moment, stay flexible, but remember to stay focused…is this all possible?

Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I did about as well as you did on goals. But I made progress!

http://thevawdreys.blogspot.com/2009/01/goals-are-goals-not-absolutes.html

Darlene »

I hope it is possible to do all those things! In fact, my first book for 2009 is “Slowing Down to the Speed of Life” by Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey. I’ll let you know if it helps!!

You know that one goal you did accomplish–the same one you’ve accomplished for the last 5 years? Well, that explains a lot about you. You Rock!

I have been loving your blog for a while now, but never have commented. Like you, I love getting comments, so here is one for you.
Many of my New Year’s Resolutions are pretty generic, more exercise, eat more healthy, less TV, increase church activity, etc. But the one that I am hoping for the most is… Baby!

My main goal this year is to be a HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER ME. For 33 years I’ve concentrated on children and others. These focuses will still be important to me, but if I don’t make me healthier I won’t be around to love my family and others. THANKS FOR YOUR INSPIRATION and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 7TH TO LEIGH ANNE!

Thanks to all of you who have shared your words or themes for 2009. There are some great ones! I appreciate you taking the time to share them with me and everyone else!!

Here’s to a year of Joy and growth for all of us - may our chosen words be a guiding force throughout 2009!

I already had to revise my new year resolution. My goal was to post a photo daily on my “Happiness Along the Way” photo journal…and I made it to January 3rd! So, I changed my goal to posting as often as I can :)
I really like your 50 new books goal. Mine was to branch out and read new books. I have a tendency to reread, which isn’t bad, but I’m feeling adventurous!
Here’s to a great new year!!

I have to laugh about the big shoes and laptop/charger/cellphone! We have the same thing going on here–only they haven’t gone back to school yet. Looking forward to some quiet and getting back on the food budget!

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My number one priority
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But I also feel strongly
that it is possible
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I love working with women and helping to inspire them to achieve their goals and dreams while still maintaining motherhood and family as
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