Peeking into 2013

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope it has been a joyous one for you thus far!

We are fully 14 days into 2013 and it has flown as quickly as I expected and as I dreaded. I've been thinking a lot about the start of the new year and reflecting on how fast 2012 went. But I look back and can't remember most of the year! It feels like 2012 was something I survived, not lived. How sad is that? How many of the small moments have I missed this past year because I was trying to hang on by my fingertips?

So now it's 2013. And 14 days have gone by and I barely blinked.

That has to stop. Now.

My big goal for 2013?  I don't want to miss it. I don't want to fly through the year like I did last year. I want to take time to smell the roses, so to speak. Though actually smelling roses is good too. :)

(Image via Rounds)

I haven't quite figured out the best way to accomplish that yet. I started to realize last year that I was carrying too much on my plate at times. So I  need to figure out ways to cut back a little. I need to stop spending energy on things that suck my time and take me away from my family. They are my priority, and I shouldn't apologize for that.

I also need to stop trying to do it all. When I do that, part of that is control, part of it is not wanting to burden others, part of it is pride. But I get resentful about it and toward others, which isn't fair. If I ask my husband to do something for me, for example, and he doesn't do it, then I could be a little resentful or frustrated. But it isn't fair to him to be resentful that he didn't read my mind and then not do what I didn't ask him to do in the first place. The "but he should have known to do this" mentality hasn't worked up till now, so how could I expect it to suddenly happen? If the shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn't appreciate Andy expecting the same of me.

I don't really make resolutions...it seems silly that someone should wait until January 1 to do something that is just as important to do at any other time of the year, especially if its something to better oneself. But there is some truth to the fact that the start of a new year gives you a reason to pause, to look back, and to look forward with new energy. There are a few other things that I want to work on this year, some obvious things like be more healthy, or be better at keeping my house clean and less cluttered, check off a few home improvement projects, etc. And a few more personal things, like blog more regularly, try to do something creative everyday, hug my family more. All of these things can be accomplished if I remember the big goal: Slow down, and actually take time to enjoy 2013.

And hopefully by keeping that in mind I will look back on the year and find it full of joys and adventures, of challenges met and conquered, and see that it was a year that was fully lived, rather than survived.