I’d like to welcome Erin to my blog today for a New Year Blog Swap! That’s right – we’re swapping blogs today so you can find me over at her place! I’m talking about one important goal I have this year. I hope you enjoy Erin’s post below.
I was so excited to see that Steph from http://agrandelife.net decided to host a New Years Blog Swap. What a great idea to write a post for someone else’s blog and have someone write for mine. I know some of my readers get tired of hearing my stories, so this is a wonderful way to hear someone else’s point of view. I was glad to be partnered up with Molly from A Day in Mollywood. I had not discovered her blog yet and since we have been partnered up, I have found a new mommy blogger that I adore! I hope you, all of her readers, enjoy my post!
I chose to write about whether or not I make New Years Resolutions. Why or Why Not?
When I think of New Years I think of celebrations with friends and family. I think of champagne and I most certainly think of Prince. I mean what’s a New Year’s celebration without everyone singing along to Prince, “So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999“. Okay maybe I am dating myself here a bit. I remember growing up thinking I would never make it to 1999. It seemed so far away and man I would be so old when it was finally 1999. Well it’s been over a decade since we hit the millennium and I’m still kicking (thank goodness) and I am old (but not that old) and my views on New Year’s resolutions have not changed. I don’t believe in them. Never have, never will.
Now I am not saying that I don’t believe in making changes to better yourself as a person and if some people need the 1st day of a new calendar year than so be it. But I don’t believe that when the clock strikes midnight at the end of each year everyone’s brains shift in a new direction. They may start off with the right goals and the right idea but at some point during the first week or month, a lot of people just give up and feel like they have failed. Not that there’s anything wrong with failing, I fail every single day of my life. But you can’t put yourself in a position to all of the sudden change and set yourself up for failure. You can’t change your entire life around the moment the ball drops in Times Square at midnight. Hey I am not saying that it doesn’t work – just not for me. Some people find use this day to start fresh and it works for them – just not me.
Shoot, I have wanted to lose weight for years. I have come up with a million excuses and reasons on why I can’t diet or lose weight. Then one day it just clicked in my head and I started to make some changes (small ones like joining the gym and starting Weight Watchers) but it was (and still is) a slow process. For some people that may happen on January 1st but for 99% of the world it will happen on a different day that you will have no control over. It may take some event in your life for you to realize you need to make the change but for me it’s usually not January 1st.
That being said, I still like to set goals for myself for the new year. Nothing drastic, just little things that I hope will improve my life and those that are surrounding me each and every day. I don’t call them resolutions, I call them goals.Here’s a few things that I have come up with for this year.
1. Try to have more sit down family dinners. I know that this won’t always include my husband because of his work, but the kids and I can do a better job at eating our meals together.
2. More time at the gym. I have been working hard (excluding these last three weeks) and I would still love to run my first 5k in 2013.
3. Find a babysitter so I can spend some more time with my husband. We are like ships passing in the night. He works long hours and has a long commute so we never ever have time to go out without the kids. We have a lot of different interests so when we do go out its usually with our friends. We just need more “us time”.
4. Appreciate the small things in life. I am a worrier. I can’t help it. If my husband is 5 minutes late I think that he’s been murdered at the train station. If I have a headache, I assume its a tumor. It’s just the way I am. So by stressing myself out so much I miss the small things in life. I am going to try and let go of that stuff and focus on the positive.
5. Expand my blog. I need to find new ways to grow. I’ve done pretty well getting myself out there over the last 5 months, but I know I can do more. It’s just a struggle between the gym, grocery shopping and keeping up with the kids and house. I won’t neglect the boys to get a post out. I will stick to writing them at night or when they are in school or napping. I just need to refresh my mind and focus on any new opportunities that may come my way. I have found so many new friends because of Erin the Irish Mama and I am looking forward to seeing what happens to the blog in 2013.
So there you have it. My goals – not my resolutions. These are not vices that I’m giving up nor are they major life changing things. These are 5 small steps that I want to try and achieve this year. And if I only get to 2 of the 5, I won’t consider myself a failure. I will still consider myself lucky to have everything in my life and the opportunity to improve upon myself.
Happy 2013 to you all. Thanks for letting me crash Molly’s blog!
XOXO
Erin
Feel free to stalk me, I am everywhere!
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