New Years Resolutions

I have not made a list of "New Years Resolutions" in over three years.  Was I too busy?  Was it useless?  I don't know, but this year, I decided to change that.  Okay, today I decided to change that.  It's only two days into the month/year, so I can TOTALLY get away with that logic.

1. I will avoid slamming my finger in car doors this year.  It is just too painful and makes typing a full-on nuisance for over a week.  (In case you were wondering why no blog last week).  Do you know what you need your fingers for?  Oh, only everything.

2. I am going to be diligent about my budget.  I kinda let the last year slack a bit with my couponing, and scouting of sales.  I glanced at my monthly grocery bill (not eating out, which we did less than once-a-month) and the $900.00 total was enough to give me a heart attack.  Granted, that was only since we stopped having garden access (which knocked down the grocery bill by a couple hundred bucks every month because we do almost a vegetarian diet in the summer). 

3. I will be honest about how things effect me.  My mom did a lot of things right.  But being honest with people wasn't always one of them.  She would be angry with someone for YEARS and when asked why, she wouldn't really know or remember.  She just knew there was a reason.  I would often do the same thing and give people the silent treatment or be nice to someones face only to trash them later on.  It isn't acceptable.  This year, I will tell you if you piss me off and why.  Then I will go for a run, forgive, and forget.  Because I love to run, and staying angry makes you fat.

4. I will take responsibility for my actions.  If I screw up, I won't make my husband feel like a tool for pointing it out.  I am going to own the mistake and offer ways to fix it.  Then go for a run.

5. I will make peace with where I am. 

6. I will train for, improve on, and set realistic goals for my business, my family, my body, and my races.  I will not do something I am not prepared for. 

7. I will be completely honest with myself.

8. I am going to try new things every month.  I have never been downhill skiing.  (Bunny slopes do NOT count).  I want to try that.  I have never had sushi.  (California Rolls do NOT count).  I am going to get out of my comfort zone and go for things that are new and different.

9. I am going to re-work the book.  I want to add more things that have made me who I am.  Like that time when I was eight, and my Dad picked me up from school early to go cut down a Christmas tree for my Mom.  We were REALLY poor, and didn't have the budget for a nice cut one from the store.  So there were chopping down a HUGE tree and shoving it into my Dad's Datsun 200SX.   We arrived home with the tree and told her, "We threw a FIT in the car, and you have to go clean it out."  She was SO mad, and SO confused.  Then when she saw the tree, she was the happiest I had seen her.  Her face lit up, like, well, a Christmas Tree.  She put on Christmas music and decorated the whole thing.  Those were the times that I knew my Dad loved us.

10. I will not allow these resolutions to make me feel guilty if I don't complete them.  Because life happens.  Sometimes, things don't go according to plan.  There will always be the cold day the door shuts on your finger and you are so cold and numb you don't realize that you just smashed your finger until you pull off your glove.  There will be illness.  There will be strife.  There will be bumps.  There will be twisted ankles, big, nasty blisters, and terrible run times.  But for every low, there is grace that leads to something even better.  There will be love.  There will be moments your youngest falls asleep in your lap and you decide to blow off chores so that you can watch him sleep.  There will be moments of inexplicable beauty that leave no room for doubt of a Creator.  There will be surprises that leave you breathless.  I, for one, am looking forward to the rest of 2015.  Because every day I get to be alive is a great day.

Copyright January 2, 2015 by H. Jennings of Washington State, United States of America.  No part, or whole of this blog may be copied, translated, re-worded/spun, distributed in any way, or credit taken from the author.  If you steal this work, or any part thereof, may one brand new, bright red sock be washed with your white load.  May all your whites be pink.