Welcome 2014

Happy New Year!

res-o-lu-tion

1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.

2. A resolving to do something.

3. A course of action determined or decided on.

How many of you made a new year's resolution this year? Is it a resolution or is it a goal? A goal is something you strive for until you reach it with your focus being on the goal instead of the journey. A resolution is a lifestyle change where you enjoy the journey as you become a better you. So often we hear people state their new year's resolution is to loose X amount of weight, or get a promotion at work, or live up your summer with friends. As awesome as those things sound, they are more goals than a resolution. What happens once you loose the amount of weight you were aiming for? Do you make a new goal or are you done? What happens once you get the promotion? Do you strive for more or are you satisfied? What comes after your summer of fun?

This year I decided to focus my resolutions on lifestyle changes, or things that require me to continue working at them throughout the year and years to come. Most people set goals at the new year and forget about them by February, I am definitely guilty of that. I didn't want that to be me this year, so I decided to make some resolutions and stick to them. Here are some of my resolutions:

1. Become more Christ-like by saturating myself with Christ's Word more often than I have been. I am doing a Bible reading plan that puts me on track to read through the whole Bible in one year. I've tried to do this before, but it was more of a goal to read through the Bible instead of become a better Christian. This year I am focusing on Christ working in my heart and molding it to be more like Him. If I happen to read through the whole Bible in that process then cool! But if not, it will not matter if my heart it pointed more towards Christ.

2. Continue to grow and learn in my friendships and especially my relationship with Drew. I want to work on putting people and their feelings before my own. This is one area I know I will continually fail in, but by God's grace I know I will get better at it. I feel this is an area I can grow in my entire life. There is always new things to learn about people as they are always changing. I want to really get to know my friends and spouse better.

3. Become a healthier and better me by eating cleaner and working out regularly. I have been working out six days a week to get back into shape. Once I'm in shape again, I want to stay consistent with my workouts instead of being happy with how far I've come only to stop working out and loose it all. Maybe once I'm in shape I'll decide to run a race, or maybe I'll just keep working out to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We will see. I am also adding more and more paleo meals to our diet to work on clean eating.

4. Become more content with what I have. This last year I have been tempted way too often with email coupons from some of my favorite retail stores. Sometimes it would be such a good deal (50% off entire purchase) that I would find myself finding something to buy just to use the coupon, even if neither Andrew nor I needed anything. I have unsubscribed to these emails and will only purchase things this year that are a true need. If I find something I really want and it's in our budget, I will purchase only if I donate something in it's place. (Example: I find a shirt a really want, so I donate a shirt before I buy it.)

5. Become a more thankful and positive person. Last August I started journaling every single night before bed. In my journal I write down at least three things I was thankful for that day. I want to continue to do this throughout my life. It has been such a great experience. It has really pushed me to see the positive in the not so good days and have a more thankful heart. I have also found myself thanking Jesus more often throughout the day for the little things we would usually forget to acknowledge or not even notice. How cool is it to be able to have a written record of all you were thankful for that you can go back and look at too!?

Now that my resolutions are out there, feel free to check in with me and see how I'm doing. It's nice to have some accountability in life. What are some resolutions or goals you made for yourself in 2014 and the years to come? Hope you are all off to a good start in 2014!

My handsome new years kiss