A Few Resolutions for the New Year

Welp, this holiday season has gone by in a whirlwind.  Am I the only one who really struggles keeping it together from mid-November to January 5th-ish?    I am just now gathering my reflections of this last year.  The last few weeks have been projects, parties galore, a lot of food (not the good for you kind) and finishing off with some nasty viruses....enough to convince me that we will, eventually wallpaper all toilet rooms....yeah, that bad.....  I will not look too dismally on last year as there were some pretty wonderful moments, like having my third little one, my better half getting teacher of the year for the state and beginning homeschool.  But, there are some definite needs for improvement.  

How about a little poem to get us started:

Be Strong

Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle--face it; 'tis God's gift.

Be strong!
Say not, "The days are evil. Who's to blame?"
And fold the hands and acquiesce--oh shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's name.

Be strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not--fight on! To-morrow comes the song.

-Maltbie Davenport Babcock

I welcome 2013 with open arms and a renewed spirit.  Grasping hope and trust with all my might.  

I know you're used to the whole, "I gotta lose 15lbs, and not to be as busy, and get off my iphone....." As I do need to do all of these things, I would much rather get to the root of these goals.  So, lemme break this down for ya.  Two Main Focus Points In Red.  Two Sub-points underneath.   One (sub-point) being what the root of the matter is, what goes on the inside (Inward).  And, Two what I can do practically (Outward) to make steps to achieve this goal.  

1)  How I Look  

Inward:  Be happy with my body.  This doesn't mean eat Oreos and Cheetos all day long.  And, sometimes I would like to...maybe not all day....for just an hour or so.  This means, yeah, I have a good 15lbs to lose since baby #3 and would be wayyy more comfortable in my clothes if a few pounds were shed.  But, hey it is baby #3 and that is an accomplishment, friends!  (I have to keep reminding myself of this).  I want my focus to be more on taking care of my body building up energy / securing my health in the long run for my family, and not the number on my bathroom scale.    

Outward:  Eliminate some...well, alot of refined sugars and starches.  Exercise.    For me, this means eliminating the excess refined starches and sugars and grabbing some veggies instead.  Baby steps.  Every time I go all crazy with health, spur of the moment, everyone in the house ends up grumpy.    Also, a reasonable exercise routine.  30 minutes per day.  I long to spend hours at the gym and jogging for miles on the Arizona mountains as in the pre-kid days, but it just ain't gonna happen.  At least not right now.  So, more veggies, 30 mins., and a big "mmmyetthhsssss" for mom bods!! 

2)  My goal and Work in Life  

Inward:  Focus on the goal.  This is a repeat and will probably continue the rest of my life!  There have been two occasions these last few weeks that were convicting to my recent negative, complaining outlook on life.  I'll explain one.  So, I'm reading this book one night and pretty much finished it upon opening.  The next morning I'm scanning the radio and hear a Katy Perry song about crazy partying on Friday nights.  Back to the book.  The author, a holocaust survivor gives his psychological account of his two long, enduring years at several concentration camps, the horrid Auschwitz, to name one.  This man and his companions were doing everything just to survive.  That was the only goal.  To survive.  Some did survive after being brutally beaten, starved, frozen, and having to lay in their own filth hanging on to mere memories of their loved ones....and....here.  here I am fretting over my kitchen, my clothes, my kids, others and having to change a few too many diapers.   Hearing Katy sing about maxing out credit cards at the bar, making out with strangers and dancing on table tops had me nauseous and crying in a moment.  It was a sobering reminder of what the people before us have suffered and here we sit privileged with our freedoms and prosperity, indulging ourselves in whatever fleshly whim of fleeting happiness we might have.  This, instead of focusing on what we cannot see...what is inside of ourselves and inside of others.  What has happened to the culture?  And, what is a person of privilege to do?  Change it or conform to it?  Let us ponder the Salmon:

Outward: Turn off the television and eliminate aspects of the Internet.  This allows more time reading, talking....learning, growing.....  We limited our TV time to a few movies the last two weeks and I finished three books (Taming of the Shrew, Man's Search for Meaning and Wuthering Heights).  Three books!!  I will admit, though, that I am a bit of a speedy, reading junkie once I open a book.  I eliminated social media and cut out about 80% of the design blogs I usually follow.  It has freed up A LOT of time. and let's face it, when pondering the world around us, really, how important is it to see every status update from friends I hardly know, television shows that are just plain trash (with the exceptions of Downton Abbey and Parenthood--that show is some serious good acting and writing--sans the mother that used to be on Gilmore Girls).  And no, I don't need to know of everything design like who redid that, which fabrics are new and what furniture is in.      

As our friend Dr. Seuss once said, "Life is a great balancing act!"  It is so true, isn't it?  And, so fast paced.  I will continue to remind myself that I am not perfect.  I will not have the perfect body, perfect house, perfect kids, perfect meals, husband, friends, culture, world.....and that is OK.  I will set aside my romantic ideals and continue to balance my work, fighting the little battles, and keep my spirit strong grasping hope and love to the best of my abilities.  

A blessed new year to you all.  

Recap:  Work hard, Rid the ideals, and Be like a salmon, y'all! 



2013 here we go! 

Oh, and on a different note, we did finish a few projects over break as well.  Posts to come.  But, my time for the day is up.