1. Eat more heathily
2. Be more patient, especially with our daughter
3. Be neater (this is my Waterloo)
4. Work harder at my business
5. Figure out what my business really is.
6. Get my nonprofit "Para las Niñas" officially started
7. Stay on Weight Watchers and lose this last 23 lbs to a nice, healthy weight and then maintain it
8. Make exercise a priority
I'm guessing a lot of your lists have many of the same types of wishes. We all want to "eat healthy", but how do you do that when you're running? One way is to quit running around so much. Your children really don't need to be in every single group/sport/etc. they wish. There is a lot to be said for being at home and even for "being bored." I'm looking forward to checking out Trader Joe's, to see if their organic foods are more affordable. I plan on shopping a little more at local Farmer's Markets, too. Where and what I buy, whether food, clothing or whatever, is a moral choice. I do sometimes buy from places that make my skin crawl, and I hope to cut that out this year, or at least drastically curtail it.. My money needs to be where my mouth is.
Patience: When I was younger, I had a horrible temper. It calmed down tremendously as I matured, but I am sad to say that with our daughter's growth into a "tween", my bad temper is making regular appearances, and I hate it. How is that that a daughter can arouse such anger?
Being neater is difficult for me. I have to be so organized in my business life that at home, I tend to be totally messy-but I usually know where everything is in that mess. It is relaxing to me not to have to maintain such high standards of organization, but I know it drives my husband nuts, and it isn't a good example to our daughter, so I am trying!
My business- I love my floral design business, and a definition of fun would be to make floral designs for people's special events all day long. Unfortunately, everyone and her dog has decided they can make floral designs, and they're basically right. It doesn't take a lot to make a decent looking design. What does take experience and skill is making those designs, getting them packed up and delivered in shape, making sure all details are just as they need to be, and being able to think on your feet to fix any problems that come up, which can be as minor as sewing a button back on a tux jacket to having to create 3 extra centerpieces and 2 boutonnieres that the bride forgot to order when the wedding size when up! These "drop and go" florists aren't around to do that- they drop off what you ordered, and if you need more, tough luck! YOU should have thought ahead.
What IS my business- or rather, what WILL it be in 2014? I do special event design, special event planning. I do some sales for my husband's business, and I want to start this nonprofit to raise funds for educating Guatemalan girls. I love to cook, and I enjoy writing. I want to write historical novels, incorporating my family history into them. Jill of all trades, mistress of none is how I sometimes feel. I will be working on prioritizing my life better. If I'm going to write, then I need to start. I'm very aware that my mother was only 10 years older than me when she died. I don't plan on getting brain cancer, but who knows what awaits any of us? I'm looking at a couple of quotes I've got posted on the wall from Steve Jobs "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life" and "...most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow alread know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." I'm also aware it is easy for someone who was so successful to say such things. Certainly, he was goal driven, and refused to settle for less, but there are thousands who were just as goal driven who weren't successes, too. I've been fortuanate that I've been able to stay home and do my work mostly from here. My husband and I made the decision that I could do that so that I could raise our daughter, and her not have to the the "latchkey" child that of my earlier life, but it is time that I start contributing a bit more to our income. Because of the decisions we've made, we've done without a lot of stuff, but that is OK in my book. I don't need a new car every 4 years, or the latest gaget, or even all new clothing every year. I would, however, like for us to be able to do some traveling with our daughter before we're too old to take her (or she's too old to want to go with us.) Mark and I both have fond memories of traveling with our parents, and Lettie doesn't have much of that. We took our first family vacation in years this past summer- driving in New Mexico and West Texas. Lettie told us she loved it because we were all together for those days. THAT is what we want her to remember, not that she got the newest piece of electronic junk that made her happy until the next new version came out.
Para las Niñas is where my heart really is. If I didn't need to work to bring in income, I'd spend all my "work" time raising funds to educate girls in Guatemala. (I do plan to donate 5% of my profit from my floral business to Para las Ninas.) In Guatemala, girls rarely go to school beyond the 3rd grade, if at all. They're taken out of school to stay home and watch the younger children, or to go to work. Education is seen as something that isn't affordable, and certainly shouldn't be "wasted on girls." Many girls there are having children by the them they're 12-15 and even younger. Having an education tends to delay their child-bearing years til later and gives them a better chance at making a better living. It breaks my heart to see little girls on the streets there selling "tipico"- adorable young girls, who should be playing and learning, not selling. In schools, they get breakfast and lunch- which is more food that most get in real life. The NGO's that I will send the funds through also provide clothing, shoes, and books, as well as food and education. You can't "teach someone to fish" if they're starving. Guatemala is so close to us, they truly are our close neighbor, and the lack of education is fueling the horrific gangs and drugs. This is a way to combat that without armies and guns. I've even got the paperwork for a Texas nonprofit all done, just need to print it out, write out the check and send it in. I want its starting date to be April 11- the anniversary of when we brought our daughter home from Guatemala.
Staying on Weight Watchers: Right now I'm wearing a pair of jeans I couldn't even get on 5 months ago, thanks to Weight Watchers. I've got 23 more lbs. to go to get to the healthy weight I want. I'll never be considered "skinny", nor do I want to be skinny. I want to be healthy. My knees and hips where hurting me before, and my blood sugar was getting me closer than I wanted to diabetes and that is a road I do NOT want to travel. I love the WW recipes- my daughter is always stunned to hear me say (AFTER the meal) "that was a Weight Watcher's recipe." My husband loves it- he needed to lose weight, too, and he's lost weight, too.
Exercise: I can always find time to do other things, and often exercise goes by the wayside. THIS year, I will get on the treadmill or, (after "cedar pollen" season) outside walking at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes each day. It makes a difference in how I feel. I have more energy when I do that, and it is a good model for our daughter, as well as important for me.
Whew, I look over all these, and it seems like a mighty ambitious list. I need to remember, "you can't eat an elephant all at once." I don't need to accomplish all these things today, but I do need to start nibbling at them, so that I can start on that pathway. Wish me luck & I hope all your resolutions come to bloom also!