Tag: Resolution

I try to pick a word for each year to have a focal point. I don’t do “resolutions”. I used to, and I have nothing against them, but it is just a little disappointing eventually. If I say I am going to work out four days a week, then the first week that I only work out three, for whatever reason, then I have blown it and don’t even try to hit four again. It is a mental game, I know, but that is just me. So instead I pick a word to focus on. If I pick Kindness, for example, then I can constantly improve on that. As some particular area improves such as allowing someone into the flow of traffic regularly, then once that becomes a habit, I can pick something else to show kindness and work on that becoming a habit.

I wish I could take credit for coming up with the idea, but like many of the best things in my life, the idea originated with my wife. She suggested it several years ago and we did it and have continued ever since. We asked our children to do it as they got old enough to understand the idea. We start talking about it in December so that we have the word ready on January 1, when we share our words with each other. It is now tradition in our family. I think traditions are a valuable part of the family, but that is a topic for another day.

My word for this year is Renew. We have been at the farm for 18 months now and spent the year before that working nights and weekends getting the place ready for us. It has been hard on us. Even though we have had fun at times and taken some little breaks when the opportunity arose, we are tired and worn. It is time for some renewal. I want to renew my relationship with my wife, my bride, to schedule times for just the two of us and cherish that time. I want to renew some old routines like regularly scheduled time each week with each of the kids that is just our time. I want to renew my mind by spending more time reading and less time watching the networks try to make the news entertaining or skimming Facebook for the latest gossip about whatever. I want to renew my body by eating intentionally. I am not talking about dieting, just making wiser choices on what I put into my mouth, like things that have natural ingredients, not chemicals and preservatives; by paying attention to how much I put into my mouth, not eating until I am stuffed; and by enjoying what I eat, not choking it down in as little time as possible.

Renewing doesn’t mean starting over from scratch, it means polishing up what you have that is good and getting rid of the stuff that isn’t. That is something that I can do!

JS