Happy New Year!!! 2014 was a great year. When I look back I see so much fun and so many things to be thankful for. I am a little wistful about letting it go.
So. Let's get started on the new year. I don't think these should be considered New Year Resolutions. I am instead calling this list:
Things to Make Life Easier, Healthier, Richer and Overall Happier
(Okay, I realize that is waaaaaaaayyyyy too long of a title, but like everything else I write I have trouble editing myself.)
1. Take more walks and do more Yoga
Before and a few times during the craziness of the holidays I was getting up early to do 30 minutes of yoga three days or so a week. I was also trying to walk Tucker a minimum of three times a week. I would like to raise those numbers to five days of yoga a week and five walks. Strength training is something I'd like to do more of. But I have various aches and pains that seem to pop up more often when I try, so I'm trying to add strength where I can in my yoga sessions. Planks, planks and more planks! Overall my fitness goals are not to lose weight but just to feel healthier, more flexible and strong.
2. De-clutter my house.
If there is one thing that I think will improve my overall mental health this year, it is this. I'm proud of the fact that I spend much less time cleaning and more time playing with my kids than ever before. But a side effect of this has been piles of stuff in every corner of every room. Some piles stay undisturbed, and some piles slowly grow taller and taller. But they never get smaller or go away. I don't touch them when I clean. If anything I just toss more stuff on them in order to rush through the cleaning. These piles have become a huge source of stress. To deal with them, though, takes monumental work like reorganizing closets. I have joined a De-Clutter Group on Facebook. The goal is to take 15 minutes a day to put away clutter in a small area every day, until an entire room is done. The first room we are tackling in January is the kitchen. This method is much less daunting to me so I am going for it.
3. Less technology
I just read a great tip on another blog to keep your smart phone in one place in the house, near the charger, instead of carrying it around. That way your access is limited, and you only go use it if you really need to look up something. The only problem with this is that we no longer have a home phone, so my cell is the only way people can contact me. I may try something like checking it once an hour. I have given serious thought to trying to live without Facebook, but I think I would lose some special things. There are people out of town that I love keeping up with and in contact with this way. I also follow several authors that inspire me daily with their musings, like Anne Lamott and Patricia Polacco. There are animal and wildlife sites I follow that make my heart happy with their pictures or videos they post, like the Texas Nature Conservancy and the Humane Society of North Texas. So to give it up completely would actually make my life less rich. I just need to have more discipline in controlling my time spent there.
4. More reading
This goes hand in hand with number 3. I have a huge list of books I cannot wait to pick up and read, along with a monthly Book Club book. I have a tendency to fall in bed, exhausted at the end of the day, and find myself scanning Facebook. I have the intention every night of picking up my book afterwards, but I normally get too sleepy to do so. So I need more discipline for me to NOT pick up that phone at night, and instead pick up my book. Maybe I will be able to read more than four pages before falling asleep. I also hope to pick up books more during the weekend, while enjoying a morning cup of coffee, or during a quiet moment after lunch.
5. Say NO more often
I really messed up several times in the last few months by volunteering for things I really had no time for. I became a Den Mother for Cub Scouts which is something I really wanted to do and have been enjoying. But then I said I would help with Rechartering our pack. This becaome a nightmare, having to try to answer questions that only the Scoutmaster really could answer, and nagging him for answers when I don't really know him well. I finally had to say NO I will not help with this after all. Sorry. Then I felt guilty. It would be better to not get myself in that position from the start. On the last day of school before holiday break, I was asked to help out with each of the boys' Christmas parties. I said no to both, and instead went to get my hair colored. The guilt was there but not nearly as strong as it has been. I will keep practicing until I have no guilt.
6. Being a good mom
This is a constant that never goes away. Both to boys and to pets.
7. Being a good wife
This really needs work. I have little energy or patience left by the time I spend time with Jav. We talk about problems with the kids, money or anything else after kids go to bed. Tempers can run high just because of sheer exhaustion. I need to have more patience during these conversations. I also need to find out more about his work day and let him vent more. And we need to have more time with just each other. Date nights out or movie nights in.
So that sums up my Things. Here's to a wonderful 2015!
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