Resolutions.

In my first post of this year, I mentioned new year resolutions in passing.  I said I'd come back to them, and here I am.  Obviously, I've dropped the ball on that whole stop procrastinating thing.  Oh well. 

I try to avoid harping on resolutions and goals for the upcoming year - if they happen, they happen.  If not, there is always next year, right?  Wrong attitude to have, I know.  But in my defense, I've found, that once you announce to the world that you are striving toward a particular goal, you've pretty much death-sentenced yourself.  Everyone is watching with bated breath, waiting for you to fail only so that you can start over again six-months later.  It tends to be human nature to set huge, unaccomplishable (no, I don't think that's a real word either) goals for ourselves.  Although I do believe that any goal can be achieved with dedication and hard work, most times we expect to reach success in a very short time frame -- and that's how we usually get ourselves into trouble.  Even if we're on the path to success, once we have failed to meet our time frame and our resources run dry we tend to dive into the pool of discouragement, which ultimately leaves us to drown in self-defeat.  A vicious cycle.

That being said, I decided to look at my resolutions as improvements in my overall well-being for the year -- spiritually, financially, emotionally and physically. 

Spiritually.  I'd like to be more adamant about doing a devotional every day - quiet time set aside to really chew on and digest the Scriptures like I should.  It's shameful for me to admit that I'm thirty years old and have yet to read the Bible cover-to-cover.  Granted, I have probably read about eighty percent of it, but never straight through from front to back.   I have the desire, but lack the dedication.  I'm a jerk.  Also, having a more serious prayer time would be great, as opposed to my twenty minutes of rambling to God about my problems during my drive to work every morning. 

Financially.  Coupons and budgeting are going to be my new best friends.  I've always done budgeting, but once again it's dedication that we lack.  I say we, because while I solely hold the family accountant responsibilities, it's up to both Mr. M and I to stick to the budget that's put into place.  Coupons are also a great way to improve your financial situation.  I caught a marathon of TLC's Extreme Couponing over my Christmas break, and it was pretty amazing.  I doubt, I'll ever pay $4.84 for over $857 worth of groceries, but if I can save a few bucks here and there, it's worth it. 

Emotionally.  I used to journal a lot.  I have journal entries that date back to when Mr. M and I were still dating.  It's always so funny to rewind five years and see what was going on in life.  Because I've dealt with anxiety off and on since I was nineteen, it's important to me to have an emotional release of some sort.  In the past, the piano has been an incredible help, along with gardening, sewing ... pretty  much anything that will distract my mind.  Having a good cry helps, but if it's a rough day at work, I can't sit at my office with a box of kleenex while I work through reports.  Not very effective.

Physically.  I think every woman vows to lose x-amount of pounds, every January of every year without fail.  I did Weight Watchers a few years back.  It works for me when I'm dedicated.  Geez, it's sounding like I should be writing a post about dedication rather than resolutions - dedication is obviously my problem, or lack thereof.  Good grief!  This past year, I managed to lose about twenty pounds, plateaued, gained back half of it, but still rang in the New Year ten pounds lighter than last year.  So, I'll take it. 

Overall, I don't think my improvement list is too unrealistic.  With a little help from the hubs, a lot of dedication, and a lot more prayer, I believe 2012 will be a good year. 

Please feel free to share with me some of your goals for the new year.