I've decided not to make any New Year's resolutions this year.
I think they might be a bad idea.
My Sadie will be nine in 2013. She only has only one more year until she's into double digits. My Josie will be 8. My Adelaide will be five. And my sweet baby boy will be three.
Three!
I'll be 37. And my husband and I will have our 12th anniversary. Wow.
Time really does fly, doesn't it? Whoever came up with that one wasn't kidding.
So when it comes to resolutions, I've decided that they just don't make sense for me. I can't even live a day or a week or a month at a time, so how can I decide today what's going to be important to me a whole year from now?
Looking back, it's been a rough year. Sickness, death, family problems, social upheaval, depression, health issues, financial problems, political issues, shootings, disasters, accidents, spiritual issues and a myriad of other things seem to have run rampant this past year - not only in my life, but in the lives of many. Maybe even in yours.
Times are hard. Life is hard. Being a mom is hard.
I've heard that what makes you who you are isn't about what happens to you, but about the way you choose to handle what happens to you. That's a huge realization for me.
Sometimes I feel like life is flying past me and I'm not really living it. It's just happening to me.
But if the past year has taught me one thing, it's this: we can only live in the moment. We aren't guaranteed another day. Another hour. Another minute.
And even though life is tough, there are still amazing things happening all around us.
The beauty of the sunset. A child's smile. A sloppy baby kiss on my cheek. A soft little hand in mine. A shared memory. An unexpected "I love you." A true friend. A belly laugh. A stranger holding the door for you. The smell of rain. A favorite song. A warm bed after a long day. A quiet moment.
So my goal (not resolution!) is to choose to have many good, beautiful and peaceful moments this year. To choose to grab onto those moments and really feel them - live them.
Because it's all about our choices, isn't it?
Happy New Year to you - I pray that you have a year full of good moments too.
-from my 1/6/13 blogpost for www.mentorpatch.com
