2016 Resolutions

We all make resolutions each new year to better ourselves in some way. In the past I've thought of some, but I've never actually picked specific goals and focused on them. Last month's issue of the Ensign had an article titled "Navigating the Currents of Life" that inspired me to do just that. The author, Mindy Anne Selu, talks about how we can feel depressed when our life appears to be stagnant. She says that we can feel as if our life is going nowhere when we focus on large goals we have not reached yet, and fail to notice small amounts of progress that we make everyday. She encourages us to make goals of all sizes. She also gives us four categories to place our goals in: mental, physical, spiritual, and social. I decided to make a goal for each category for this year. I'm also sharing them on my blog because I think that writing them down and making them public will create a greater motivation for me to work on them all year.

Mental - My mental goal (don't laugh at the wording) for this year is to practice better patience towards both Benjamin and Gerson. As the newest member of our family, Luna is the most helpless of the four of us; and so she requires a lot of attention from me. Because of that I easily get frustrated with my two favorite men if I feel they aren't contributing enough or listening to me. I need to remember that Gerson can't read my mind and Benjamin is only two years old. (Exercising more patience was the answer I received when I asked Heavenly Father "What Lack I Yet?") I pray every morning for help with patience, and I am working on apologizing when I do lose my temper. I also came across this helpful article on how moms can control their temper when dealing with children: "The Bully Too Close to Home"

Physical - My physical goal for this year is to lose weight. Surprised? What is going to make this weight loss goal different than previous ones is that I have a specific weight that I want to see on the scale and a specific pants size I want to fit around my waist. In the past I have chosen unattainable weight goals; I have wanted to go back to the size I was in high school. It no longer depresses me that that dream is unrealistic. I'm not a teenager anymore and I've had two kids. My new weight loss goal is attainable and healthy. I want to be fit, not just thin. I track my food and exercise through a website and app called Lose It! There is some debate on if counting calories is the best way to lose weight, but I've been using this website on and off for four years, and it works for me.

Spiritual - My spiritual goal for this year is to make it to Church on time. My ward begins at 8:30 am this year. Arriving on time to Church seems like a physical goal, but it is a spiritual one for me. When we are late for Church I get stressed and turn into a crazy person, which drives the spirit away. On the first Monday of the new year our Family Home Evening lesson was writing down what each of us would do each Saturday night and Sunday morning to help get our family to Church on time. It is now up on the fridge as a reminder. I pack the diaper bag, fill out the tithing slip, and take a shower on Saturday night. On Sunday morning I wake up in enough time to feed myself and the kids and get us all dressed. We haven't made it on time yet, but each Sunday we have gotten closer. If the pattern continues we should start getting to Church on time in February, and seeing that progress has already decreased some of my Sunday stress.

Social - My social goal for this year is to attend all of the Relief Society events and activities. For the past year I was on the Relief Society Activities Committee, which required me to go to the activities. I was released last month, but I still love going to the activities and want to continue to go. I made a lot of friends in the ward by attending the activities. In addition to the activities, I also want to start attending my Relief Society's monthly book club and weekly sports' night. The book club I can easily start attending because I can take Luna with me, but I'll have to wait until Luna has a different eating schedule before I can go to sports' night; and I'm hoping that will happen this year.

I'm really excited to work on these goals. They go together and they are meaningful. This is going to be a good year!