Saturday, January 4, 2014

Resolutions

I like the idea of a "new year" and "new year's" resolutions. I want to think of each new year as a fresh start, a time to learn from your mistakes and an opportunity to make changes to your life. I'm not saying I'm an expert at doing any of those things, but I like the idea of it.

I'm not calling the things I want to do in 2014 (or start doing) as a complete list or things JUST for 2014, but I want a redo on some things. So, the new year is a good place to start.
  1. Quit trying to control my kid's lives. If you have children, you know how much you worry, how you want them to learn from your mistakes, how you want to help them with everything. My daughter actually does want to learn from mistakes. She's a more practical person, a reasonable force in my life. My son does not. He wants to make his own mistakes, and learn the hard way. It definitely shows the difference in their personalities. I've got to let go just a little. This is very difficult for me.
  2. Trying to stay positive. I have a stressful job, and there are some new things going on in my industry anyway that make it difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm prone to be negative about the whole thing. I'm got to accept things as they are, change what I can and go with the flow. As part of this, I have to "get over" things I have held onto ... petty grudges and little bouts of paranoia. This "positive" resolution is mostly job related. I'm pretty positive about the other aspects of my life.
  3. Be healthy. Sounds good; hard to do. I have a weakness for sweets, so I've got to learn to leave those for special occasions.
  4. Limit Facebook statuses to things that might really be interesting. My daughter actually gave me this idea, and she's right. A few of my FB friends post every little damn thing, even if they make a trip to Target. Or if they exercise (something lots of people do but don't brag about it.) She's right, nobody cares about that.
  5. Spend time with the people I really care about. I'm getting older; no wasted time. I want to spend as much time as possible with my son, my daughter, my boyfriend/life partner (I'm too old to call him my boyfriend but there you are), my family, and those friends I really love and miss. 
  6. And, finally, the most important one, learn to NOT LIVE IN FEAR. I often do not do things I want to do because of what other people might think. I'm not talking about doing stupid or criminal things or acting like a 20 year old when I am 51. I'm talking about the fact that I no longer eat pork, because it's a choice I made, and yet I'm afraid to mention it to my mother as I do not want the questions or the judgement. Silly, but true. I'm talking about not caring what other people think about the books I read, the shows I watch, the clothes I wear, the friends I choose, the life I lead. It's my life so FU if you don't like it. Wow, that felt good. (I do want to point out here that my boyfriend never casts judgement on me. He really does accept me as I am. He's so refreshing!)
Happy New Year! I sincerely home everyone has a good one, and enjoys every minute of it.