I Resolve

Today's Show Us How You Live topic over at Kelly's Korner is about our New Year's resolutions. Ever since Wednesday when I found my old high school resolutions, I've been thinking about what I wanted/needed to change and improve in myself.  One thing I think about resolutions is that they have to be realistic or else they're easily discarded by the third week in January and never thought about again until the next year.  But they should also be a little challenging, you should have to work for it a little.  One of my favorite quotes is:

The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.

Every time I hear or read those words I'm motivated to become the best version of me.  I think about what I want in the future and what it will take to get me there.  Yes, there are a lot of things that I'd like to become that are completely unrealistic or aren't worth the sacrifice in the long run.  But knowing that it's possible, and not just some pie in the sky dream, to become someone greater than I am today makes me ready and willing to stick to my New Year's Resolutions!

I Resolve to:

1.  Strike a Balance.  I'm more of an all-or-nothing kinda girl and I've found it difficult to correctly balance my school work and "mother work."  I know this was my first year back to school since law school, since becoming a mother, and I knew there would be an adjustment period.  But it's taken a lot more getting used to than I anticipated and I either feel like I'm being a bad mom or being a bad student.  I need to work on this; I want to be a good student and a good mom every day- not a good student one day and bad the next.

2. Maintain my GPA.  I'm hoping that by finding a better way to balance everything in my life, keeping my 4.0 will be easier than getting it.  So much of the first 24 years of my life were centered around making good grades, excelling in school, and being "smart."  I worked for it, but it also came to me easily.  I didn't feel that way this year, and even though I ended up with all A's, it wasn't the easiest of roads to get there.

3. Confidently remember that everything I do is for Spencer.  It sometimes gets me in a funk when I think about how people see me now, as if I'm doing nothing with my life because I've chosen to stay home with Spencer for these first few years. I know differently; this is the most difficult and most rewarding job I'll ever have. Spencer is my most proud accomplishment and being her mother is my greatest privilege.  But I need to remind myself of this more and spend less time thinking about anyone else.  When I'm up late studying for a test and up early in the morning to give her breakfast, I need to remember that I'm doing it for her instead of thinking about how tired I am. 

4. Be Receptive.  I often close my mind to different ways of thinking and fail to really listen to others' perspectives.  I'm polite, but it's more like I'm just hearing the words instead of listening to the idea.  This needs to change.  Even if I don't agree with an opinion, that's no reason to ignore it; at the very least I should be trying to understand it. 

5. Take More Pictures.  You might think that 10,000 pictures is a lot to take in one year, but I want to take more!


And those are my big resolutions!  There are a few more that didn't make it on the list because they're "life" resolutions, things that will never leave the list -exercising more, being more organized, and keeping my car clean.

And those are my 2010 Resolutions!