I Resolve...

to NOT make New Year's resolutions.

I mean really...have any of us EVER really TRULY completed a "resolution"?

BUT year after year on January 1 we all decide that we will make resolutions to change our lives.  To quit smoking.  To lose those pesky 15 pounds.  To stop biting our nails. To be a better person in some way.  ALL with the best of intentions...

What I've learned though...is that for ANY change to take place...you have to want it not only in your head...but also in your heart.  If it isn't something that you REALLY REALLY want to change...if it isn't something that you can picture yourself starting/stopping/doing...then it will never happen. That is why the gym is PACKED and every piece of equipment is full the first 2-3 weeks of the new year.  And then something amazing happens...people realize that to actually fulfill their resolution (of losing weight, in this case)...they have to make a lifestyle change and find the time to not only fit in trips to the gym, but adjust their diet as well.  When the scale doesn't instantly drop by 5 pounds in the first week...they get discouraged and decide that it is just too hard...that it isn't worth it.  This is the same with most any resolution.  Typically as excited and determined as people are in week one...that excitement fizzles away by week 3 or 4.  And back they go to their old lifestyles.  Saying "next year...next year I'll really be ready."

I'm guilty of doing that MANY, MANY times myself.  Which is why several years ago I finally got smart and said NO MORE!

Now - that isn't to say that I don't set goals for myself each year.  There is something about a whole new calendar...it feels like a clean slate...a fresh start...a new beginning (even though it is really just a new day).    It is hard not to want to make goals for the next year.  Heck...just a new month inspires me to make a goal.  BUT with any goal - I do try to take it just one day/week/month at a time.  AND I try to celebrate my little victories.

So...although to many this will look like a "resolution" list...it is really just my little list of goals for the new year.

1)  Anyone that has ever attended one of my kids birthday parties knows this is true...I am HORRIBLE about sending Thank You notes.  Please know that I (and the kids) TRULY are very thankful about your attendance at the party, the gift, etc...I am just HORRIBLE about doing thank you notes.  So...I am going to try to be better about this next year.
2)  I used to be good about Birthday/Anniversary, etc. cards...but have gotten HORRIBLE about those as well (just ask my sister and folks...)
3)  I want to be better about staying OFF of my "smart" devices - especially when I am around family/friends.  They are making me "dumb"....and it is setting a horrible example for my kids...

So that is all for me.  What is on your list?  Oh...and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!