Whew, our purses and wallets have all survived the Christmas. At least I hope so. It is safe to say that my three munchkins are enjoying and appreciates all of the gifts that they received. These children have no idea how blessed they are. Moving right along, though, because I’m not going to bore you with another post about that subject. It’s been done before. I am however, going to share with you some things that I’ve learned throughout 2018 that I believe will continue to shape my 2019 and many more years to come. Oh, and this isn’t one of those “New year, new me” posts either. Please let’s let those die (insert eye roll). Yeah, we know it’s a new year, but you’re the same old you from last year, probably.
Truth is, most of us are going to be the same old us from the year prior. Why is that though? Resolutions are really hard to maintain if you’re only doing it for momentary satisfaction, and not true long-term personal growth. Another reason, one of the primary reasons for not being able to keep a resolution is because our daily routines won’t allow it. It’s easy to make these resolutions whenever you have down time during the holidays, but when the hustle and bustle of our daily lives kicks into high gear and we’re back to fixing lunches for the next day, ironing clothes, checking homework, making diner, and running back and forth to some sort of practice /game for the little people, those resolutions fall off quicker than an unsecured lace front.
I know for me, there are some things that 2018 has taught me and some of those things do not belong in 2019 with me. I’ve learned that I have to stop putting other people feelings ahead of my own. I spent a great deal of this year wondering how decisions I made would make others feel. Hear me out here. I’m not saying that we all can just do whatever we feel and we don’t have to think about how those choices would affect our livelihoods and families.
As adults, all we still have to weigh each our decisions out, but when it comes to choices regarding your personal happiness, your peace of mind, and having your goodness reciprocated by others, by all means, choose you first. Always. This isn’t, I repeat, this is not a resolution. It’s more of a goal that I want to achieve, and it’s a realistic one.
Some people make resolutions and they add unintentional stress to themselves. Instead, make a list of goals, or ideas to try. I plan to travel more in the coming year, because I’ve stacked my coins in preparation just for that purpose. The coin stacking was a prior year goal that took a great deal of self-control not to touch, even during the times that I really needed to.
Saving more money and loosing weight/getting in shape are the most common resolutions I hear people making. I wish Godspeed to those folks because those are some tasks that takes a great deal of discipline, and if you are not a well-disciplined person, just don’t put that type of stress on yourself. By all means, get healthy and save money, but be realistic.
If you love food and currently don’t work out, dropping 50 lbs. may be really lofty. Instead, set smaller goals in increments and get a responsible partner involve that will help hold you accountable if you fail, but also support you if you fail. You probably will fail, but who cares? Just try your hand at it again, if you want or not.
The good thing about making a list of goals or ideas to try instead of a new year’s resolution, is that you have not time limit on yourself. So if you fall off of the wagon ten times, you’re fine as long as you keep getting back on there.
So my personal list includes the aforementioned item and:
- Getting to church earlier. My pastor would be so thrilled to see this.
- Watching less television. I spent way too many hours wasting time by watching television in 2018. This is going to be really difficult because there are so many shows that I love and so many new ones that really pique my interest. What’s a girl to do?
- Paying off a major bill . Starting with the smallest one first, of course.
- Start a second career. I’m really excited about this one and you’ll have to stay tuned to find out what it is.
Truly, She's Trying 
Leave a Reply