SISTER WISDOM : build a better life

Image Courtesy of color line on Flickr.

I can't resist the urge. I'm addicted to list-making, I love (at least the idea of) change, I'm obsessed with personal growth. Every year I get out my pen and journal and tell myself to be realistic, specific, to make my goals measurable, to not list more things than I can possibly do in fifteen years...

Every year I write way too much stuff down. I generalize. I dream. And I've found that, for me, that's really the point of the whole New Year's resolution writing tradition, anyway.

The Point of Resolutions

It's about the dreams I have. It's about the big goals I may not be able to reach this year, but by writing them down I remind myself to keep moving in that direction. It's about inspiration, and being courageous enough to be honest. There are things I don't like about my life. There are goals I'm not reaching. I can do better. I have failed. I have also succeeded.

My List

I've already made a list for this year. I'll probably add to it on New Year's Day... I can't help myself.

• Quit trying to be self-sufficient. Ask for help. Ask for help often.

• Be honest with God. Admit my needs, my failings, my anger, my problems, and my dreams to God. Spend time in things that nurture my spirit and remind me of God, of truth, of what is important and real.

• Stop trying to figure it all out by myself. Seek wisdom from God and the people He puts in my life.

• Let go of perfection and pride. Hold on to truth. Embrace reality.

• Be more productive by sticking to a schedule.

• Get through our big to-do list. (We wrote out 9 pages on our way home from family holiday visits.)

• Declutter, organize, decorate, simplify our home.

• Exercise regularly.

• Get involved in something creative, hands-on, challenging, fun – away from the computer and the notebook.

• Write fiction.

• Train our children consistently.

• Treat my husband like a king.

• Spend more time with people, less time on lists...

Some of those big resolutions will remain vague ideas, points of inspiration, hopes to stack in the Someday folder. Others – the ones I actually want to achieve within this new year – I will translate into action. I've got a schedule to stick to, for example, to help with # resolution. I've been testing it out for the last few days, getting a jump-start on my new year progress. Oh yes, I am that much of a nerd. (I bet you are, too.)

What Isn't On My List

Money stuff. Not on my list. Sure, I need to be better at budgeting, I need to get more organized with bill-paying, I need to save more and spend less, cancel old credit cards, pay off debt. I know that. I'm already working on it. Joe and I have regular meetings to review our finances and make changes as needed. I'm not burdening myself with any more financially related obligations at this point.

Food stuff, like eating right, not eating out so often, avoiding fast food, buying organic. Yes, I could use improvement in those areas. In the meantime, life continues. I'm making changes in our habits as I can; we're improving slowly but surely. It doesn't have to be on another list.

Go Twirling Into the New Year

I love New Year's Day. I love holidays, in general, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I think that New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are actually the top of the list. Maybe resolutions are overdone, but the whole tradition reminds me that change is possible. Growth is happening. Life is improving. I am making progress in becoming the person I want to be. New Year's Day is like a national celebration of that truth, and sends me twirling into the new year with the assurance of success trailing behind me.

Get In on the Action

You know you want to. Go ahead. Make a huge list of all the best things you can be and do and see and experience and change and enjoy. And look back on your last year and think about what you have been and done and seen and experienced and changed and enjoyed.

Be thankful.

You are alive in a world that does not guarantee life.

You are loved in a time that is full of hatred.

You are accepted in the midst of clashing traditions. You are making it in the middle of economic collapses. You are choosing your way when many people have no choice.

Be joyful.

You are alive. You are loved. You are accepted. You are moving forward. You are choosing to grow, to live, to accept, to love.

Related Material

Spinning the New Year: Resolutions from The Wise (Young) Mommy

Top Ten New Year's Resolutions from About.com

New Year's Resolutions from Restaurant Widow

Have You Made a Difference This Year? from Life Optimizer

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Image Courtesy of color line on Flickr.