New Year, New Me

The new year has come, and it seems you can't go 10 feet without hearing talk of resolutions. I tend to not make resolutions for New Year's. It seems a bit arbitrary, for one reason. If the only reason I am making a resolution is one of time, then it is not a resolution I will be successful in keeping. There is no internal motivation to keep me going once we get into the middle of January, when life feels a little flat. Also, I have a small oppositional streak, so the very fact I am supposed to make resolutions ensures that I determinedly do not make any resolutions. I am a bit of a rebel with no cause.

However, this year I did decide, before Christmas, to make some changes in my life. Since it is a new year, I am using these as my resolutions in case anyone asks. Not that they do - it would be a bit presumptuous to go up to somehow and ask if they have made New Year's resolutions.

The first resolution I have made is to work on integrating into a healthier lifestyle. Some of the pieces have been in place for a while - the regular trips to the gym, for example. However, the eating has been out of control. So come Tuesday, I am making my first foray into Weight Watchers. I am excited about doing a program that will (hopefully) show me how to make better nutritional choices, choices that I will continue to make over my lifetime. I want to be healthy and slimmer so that I can chase my kids around our back yard this summer without being winded.

The second resolution I have is to be more consistent in general in my life. This covers all aspects of life, from disciplining the children to blogging regularly to staying in contact with friends. I am striving for balance in all areas of life.

The most important resolution involves patience. I am hesitant to resolve to be more patient in case God starts sending my more difficult situations with which to test and strengthen my patience. But I do want to be more patient with my kids, with other drivers on the world (surely they are not all slow and silly; perhaps my attitude is the problem here), with my sweetheart, with the world in general.

Hand in hand with patience is grace and mercy. I resolve to be more merciful and gracious with life in general. I want to be more accepting of others. I want to show the same mercy and grace to others that I myself would like to receive.

These are the resolutions, the changes that I want to make in myself this year. I make these not because it is 2010, but because I am in need of updating. I would like to be Leigh Ann 7.2 by next year (I've gone through other permutations over the years), a kinder, gentler, healthier person than I am at the moment. I'll let you know if it actually works. If it does work though, I won't have to let you know because you will see it yourselves in your interactions with me.