I am one of those people who don't make resolutions, because I know I won't keep them. Yet, for some reason this year I've been thinking on resolutions a bit.
Part of it has to do with Eric teaching a lesson in Elder's Quorum last week about resolutions. He had me read a story he shared and it basically is a lesson on making your resolutions small things, instead of these big giant goals. While figuring out an activity for Activity Days this past week, I was thinking about doing a lesson on goal keeping and found something about 'eating an elephant' by eating a small bit at a time. Basically, keep things small and you can accomplish big things. I didn't do a lesson on goal keeping, but it really stuck out.
So, this year I decided to keep my resolutions small and I only have a list of three...
#1. Exercise Daily
#2. Read The Book Selections For Book Club Each Month
#3. Blog About The Good In My Life Everyday
Here's a little more about the why's behind my resolutions.
#1. EXERCISE DAILY
I'm already ready to give up on this resolution and I haven't even started yet. HAHAHA!
I don't enjoy exercise, but I wish I did. It seems boring and takes too long to see any type of results. But, I know my health isn't great and I need to do things to feel better about me. The important part is to try. My first step is going to be Yoga every night. I figure that's simple enough and I don't seem to mind Yoga that much. It's nothing major, but it's a start...we'll see where to go from there.
It's also a little sad and a bit of a wake up call when your kid tells you that their friend called you fat a few times...
#2. READ THE BOOK SELECTIONS FOR BOOK CLUB EACH MONTH
We've had a book club in my neighborhood for I don't know how many years. I was reluctant to go when I was first invited because I don't read all the time. My sweet friend, Cindi kept inviting me and I finally decided to go. I quickly discovered that while books are discussed a little bit, it was really a time for us moms to have some time to talk to friends and vent. We stay up into the wee hours of the morning and it's been a safe haven for me.
I still have slight guilt when they bring up the books they've read and talk about it. And there's been a few book I wish I would've read. There's also been some books I actually did read and I was thankful to have read them. Most of them were books I wouldn't have picked out for myself, but I still enjoyed.
Sadly, Cindi is moving and she was part of the driving force behind book club. I was concerned it would all fall apart without Cindi, but there are a couple ladies who decided to keep it going and I'm thankful for that. The group will seem a little off without Cindi and her commentary, but hopefully she'll keep up on
her blog. She reads like there's no tomorrow and shares reviews there.
This past Tuesday we met to vote on the books for the year. Every other month is a pick your own book in a certain genre. The other months were the ones we voted on. On Wednesday afternoon I ordered my book selection for January (A Poetry Book) AND the vote for February (Romance).
I'm off to a good start on that resolution. Now to finish the stack of books I have on my nightstand so I can get to Poe.
#3. BLOG ABOUT THE GOOD IN LIFE EVERYDAY
There's a few driving forces behind this resolution.
2016 was a rough year for me, as it was for many people. I can't even say that a bunch of bad things happened, it was just rough emotionally and I was told a number of times by my wonderful husband that I was focusing on the wrong things. He had a point. He had to point out things that were still going well. A LOT.
So as I was thinking of resolutions, a
talk Elder Eyring gave a few years ago in General Conference kept coming to my mind. He talked about how every night he started keeping a list of the things the Lord had done for his family that day. He did it every night no matter how tired he was. I'll be honest, I won't be doing it at night - cause when I finally get the kids to bed, that's where I want to be. But mornings? I can do it in the morning about the day before.
Another thing that gave me this push was my cousin. She's technically my 2nd cousin and like 16 years younger than me, but whatever small portion of genetic makeup that we share is almost identical. (Not really, but read on...)
The other day she posted on her blog about how she had made a post about all the resolutions she was going to make and after she had posted she deleted it all because it wasn't authentic. She realized she didn't really need to
change anything and she decided she was going to look for the good in every day. So, we were thinking on the same wavelength, she's just more quick to action than I am.
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THE GOOD STUFF - DAY #1: JANUARY 5, 2017
* Eric made it home safely.
Because he works downtown, I always worry about his safety in bad weather. Especially on days he gets home a little later than usual.
* Most of my kids played with friends.
* I actually cleaned the house AND got Christmas put away.
* I got a couple of blog posts up from March and April.
I'm slowly getting the family blog caught up.
* Zach went to bed at 10:00.
This is a good thing as he's usually a night owl and thinks midnight is a good bedtime.
* I was able to read a chapter in my current book.
My new books should arrive within the next few days, so I've got to get busy!
