Friday, December 17, 2010

Resolutions

Who needs to wait until New Year's to make resolutions?
Christmas is still a week out, and yet I find myself anxiously anticipating the turning over of a new leaf. There are so many things in my life that I feel need a-fixing, and I want to start now. My diet has changed as a result of pregnancy and first trimester food cravings and aversions, and since I have stopped running my energy levels have gone down. Consequently, my eating habits have changed, and the overall sluggish feeling I have has led to a lax in standards with my kids and around the house. I am ready to climb back up.
As anyone who knows me knows, this past year we have moved out of a house that I very much loved and into one that has been in many ways a struggle. I find myself wanting to go back to "the way things were," yet wrestle with the fact that I should be grateful where I'm at and with what I have.
In some ways, I view my "changed" life as a blessing. Believe it or not, there was a time I wished I could be exactly where I am now, a place where cleaning and maintaining the appearance of my home did not take such precedence in my life, or that I didn't "have" to leave my kids to go for a run. We have all heard that our strengths can become our weaknesses, and that was me. As much as I loved my last house, I knew that my preoccupation with it was becoming a weakness; getting in the way of enjoying other things and distracting my focus from what was most important (namely, my kids.) Similarly, I've had periods in my life where a preoccupation with diet and/or exercise has led me to seek the help of a priesthood blessing. My strengths had become my weaknesses.
That being said, we all know that there are many factors that contribute to our physical and spiritual well-being. Knowledge will not allow us to deliberately do things that are harmful and have a good conscience about it, and my life experience has given me too much knowledge to continue in some of my ways. I look back on the high points in my life, and can come up with a summary of what is important to me: a clean house, healthy body, exercise, and good family relationships through conscious living.
Now that the first trimester of my pregnancy is over, I feel it is time for me to get back on the bandwagon and live up to my potential. I like to set my goals in the positive rather than the negative, and share my goals with others to increase my accountability. This is a rough draft and will not be set in stone until after New Year's:

*I will eat whole foods with fruits and vegetables as the base of my diet, and heed the council given in the Word of Wisdom to partake of all things in moderation.

*I will do my best to reduce or eliminate sugary foods that make me feel bad.

*I will focus on eating foods for good energy, not merely out of a craving or for pleasure.

*I will eat local, organic, or homegrown as often as possible.

*I will do laundry every day, from start to finish (wash, fold, put away.)

*I will clean my bathrooms twice a week.

*I will adhere to my cleaning schedule.

*I will exercise 4-5 days a week, be it walking, running, yoga, indoor or outdoor, weather and pregnancy permitting.

*I will do at least one quality subject with my kids in homeschooing every day.

*I will record school work daily.

*I will listen to my kids with real intent and not be divided.

*I will slow down and give what I do more quality.

*I will speak kindly and in a nice tone.

*I will make a conscious effort to be patient.

*I will pray and seek for the guidance of the Spirit every day.

It's a start, and if nothing else, I have been inspired just getting these goals down and out. As of late I find myself feeling so full, dragging, tired, and defeated at the end of the day, and with nothing to show for it other than the fact that my kids are a day older. I haven't always felt this way, and I know that part of it is pregnancy, but a large part is due to the factors listed above. I strongly believe that our physical health affects our emotional and spiritual health, and that we are interconnected to our surroundings. I know that through a good physical and temporal cleaning and purging, my spirit will soar and I will once again find my path.

2 comments:

  1. What she said!! I'm going to have copy your list. It's perfect. I hate the feeling of the kids getting older and me getting lazier. Heres to change and a new year. xoxo I actually started one of my goals a couple of days ago too. Who says you have to wait till the first? I need a head start. Slowly picking up some speed and we will be sailing through the new year :)

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  2. I'm with you an the sugar. I was doing great until Marlene had truffles our on her counter. I really notice a difference when I stay away from sugar.

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