Realizations and Resolutions

Wow, resolutions this year have made me do some serious life contemplation.  Ideas have been percolating for weeks, my whole life has been examined.  It's been.....rigorous.   

This past year I have finally started doing better at setting and achieving goals.  Honestly, since Aijah, I make a mental list of goals every day, a VERY realistic list, so I'm productive, but not overwhelmed.  A big contributor to this was playing Game On.  It's a diet/healthy lifestyle competition.  There's a book.  Basically, you make teams, and every day there are a list of things you earn points for: exercise, follow your eating plan, communicating with team members, completing goals etc.  You keep score, and the winners get a predetermined prize.  I learned A LOT playing this "game."  It changed my life for the better.  (Thank you Kara (introducee), and for my family (players))  Before the game, each individual picks a habit to start, and a habit to break.  You get points for doing or not doing things.  Chad and I both spent a good deal of time deciding on what we wanted to change in our lives, and since then, the ball has kept rolling.  I exercise more, I eat better, I enjoy life more, I fit more great things in, and I'm continually re-evaluating my life and myself.

So, the big 2013 rolls around, and I'm brainstorming and feeling confident about resolutions.  Then a little bomb drops.  We had a church lesson on goal setting.  They had us write what we would like to be doing in 5 years.  5 years?  Why hadn't I thought that far in advance?  My goals were so short term.  5 years?  What?  Have another child?  Hopefully.  Be a good mom? Can't really check that one off.  And, what else?  Run some races.  Read all the standard works.  Good.  After that, I was kinda stumped.  It was a YW laurel lesson, so all the girls were obviously writing about college and missions, and moving and BIG THINGS.  In 5 years, my life isn't going to change much.

Then I started wondering, am I just wasting away my time, living in a day-to-day mentality?  Shouldn't I have some longer term goals?  Suddenly, my original 2013 resolutions seemed small and silly.  I felt like I was missing something.  Aren't I supposed be doing something bigger?  more important?  I kept pondering, but wasn't getting anywhere.  Should I be starting some organization for helping people?  Should I be working on being more hire-able someday?  Should I start some online income source?  Ideas were getting weird, and non-inspiring.  How do I want to live my life?

I changed my perspective.  I thought, "Pretend it's 5 years from now, what would you regret doing or not doing?"  Then most everything fell into place.  Top priority, enjoying, loving and teaching my family.  It far surpasses anything else.  Oh, how I would regret not cherishing everything, and taking advantage of every age my children pass through.  How I would regret not taking time to teach them as much as I could...not creating great memories... letting trivial things take priority.  Really, there are plenty of time-worthy things I could accomplish, but for me, my best life, is enjoying my family, EVERY DAY.  Yes, I could try to make money, or do something more for society, or really work my bum off at being "successful" in the world, but if I let those take priority over my family, I personally would feel like I missed the best part of my life.  When my children are older, or moved out etc. resolutions will be different, but while they are growing up, I'm relishing every moment.

So, after much thought, here are my resolutions, ....rough draft....subject to tweaking, but the rough outline is solid. 

Spiritual
 -Complete weekly scripture reading goals.  Read along with Sunday School Curriculum.  If I do this, it will remind me to say my prayers too.

Physical
-Two 1/2 marathons, or 1 triathlon and 1 half marathon.  Others races for sure, but those for now. Workout 5 days/week. 

Education
-Read 3 parenting books.  Peruse several.
-15 minutes of "preschool" for Jet, 5 days/week

Family
-1 great date night a month (this month's is already planned) (at least 1 photo (get a purse that's easy to take my camera everywhere)
-1 great family activity a month (at least 1 photo), 1 fun one a week or so (easy)
-personally, 1 fun thing with the kids every day....simple things, a dance party in the living room,a b-ball shooting competition, play dates, teaching fun things, cooking something together, making something etc. 
-write my grandmas letters.  1 letter a month.  That's 3, per grandma, per year. 

Fun
-cook at least 1 new recipe a week, even if it's just tweaking an old one....1st goal?  Crispy waffles, not just fluffy waffles...well...and the awesome menu I have for date night on Monday (it's a secret).  Chad is gonna LUUURVE it!  Can't wait!
-blog more frequently, and keep posts more simple.  seriously, instead of watching ANOTHER cooking show, I could blog in the same time.

Service
- Cook a meal for someone at least once a month (whether they are coming over or I'm taking it to them)  Finally i feel confident enough in my cooking to do this.
-Complete visiting teaching every month, even if simple.

Okay, it sounds like there might be too much fun in there, but I'm enjoying my life, and it's my choice.  So much fun to be had!  Yahoo!  Don't worry, I get the more "serious" things done too.  For example, financial goals would be WEIRD to post online, nay?