A Purpose-Driven Year

To be honest, the beginning of December found me in quite a funk. While a little high strung and zany, I'm mostly a glass half-full kind of gal, so this was just kind of odd.

But with the recent passing of some old friends, and the loss and hardships being experienced by others we love, came feelings of sadness, guilt, and questioning. Compounded by a subtle loneliness and homesickness for old friends that set in a few months after moving to this new post, plus the accidental loss of most of our sentimental Christmas decorations we collected over the last few years... and you have a very unjolly lady. For like three weeks straight.

But as it were, Christmas came and went just like always. And the funk lifted. Because with the passing of the old year came the realization that this. is. life. And I need to live it while I can.

Someone who is a much wiser, better writer, recently wrote, "Blank days spread out before me, for ME to enjoy. And yes, some will be hard, and some will be busy, and some will be boring and some will be happy, some will be sad, but they are MY days. A whole new FRESH year to look forward to, and whatever it brings I get to LIVE it. If I lived it thinking of all the bad, unfair things that happen, I'd be wasting my days of this year ignoring all the joys."

It was like she was writing it for me.

And, so while I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, I did pick a simple phrase that encompasses what I feel I should work on throughout the following year. I will write it out, post it up, and focus on it when the going gets tough.

Be purposeful.

Be purposeful of my time with my children: as much as possible, fill it with love and laughter, teaching, reading, play, big hugs and smoochy kisses, lots of baking, silliness, and beautiful memories. Life is so long, but childhood is so short.

Be purposeful of my time with my husband: fill our time with love, laughter, hugs, conversations and remembering the details of work that he told me when he thought I was listening better, gratitude and high-fives, dorky jokes, and more Scrabble games and date nights.

Be purposeful of my personal time: take care of myself through exercise, positive thinking, rewarding books and personal growth, healthy eating and more sleep, more communication with the people I love who don't live as close, and more communication and effort with the possible new friends who do live close by, but whom I haven't tried to get to know because they are not my old friends.

Be purposeful of my work time: focus on completing the task at hand as efficiently as possible. Work smarter, not harder. Rather than flitting from one chore to the next, so that four things are half done when two things could be completely done and I could be taking my children out to the park instead of scrambling to get dinner started and laundry finished. Erm... for example...

Hoping everyone we know and love has a better, more joyful New Year.