I tend to skip the whole resolution thing most years. Skip the resolutions and you avoid the guilt from not keeping up with them. I'm not a big fan of guilt. The best new year's resolution we made (and never fulfilled and continually regret) was to take a picture of each dinner party we hosted. Maybe this will be the year that we follow through on that one.
Even though I don't take the time to look forward and make commitments about the upcoming year I still like to take some time around New Year's and look back at the previous year. What happened last year that I am proud of? How am I different? How have I helped my family to become better? What will 2010 be remembered for in my family? I won't bore you with the answers to any of these questions here. Mostly because I don't know them yet.
Spending a moment wondering about a year that's passed helps to drive direction for the one ahead. I am not resolving to do anything new in 2011. But there's potential, and that's very exciting. Many times I get to the end of the year and discover something new that happened that I never would have guessed at the start. For example, I knew 2008 would be a big year because we were adding Norah to the family (although in January of that year she hadn't been named, and I wasn't totally convinced she was a girl yet--that took a little more time). We also knew that we were getting out of the Air Force in 2008, but had very little direction as to where we would go next. By the end of the year we were (slightly) settled back in Connecticut and halfway through BJ's first year as a full-time student and TA. In 2009 we, again, didn't know much of what was going to happen or where we were going to be at the outset, but it ended up containing Toby's first steps into formal education (his wonderful preschool), Norah's literal first steps, my first introduction to the delights and dedication of running, and BJ's first international conference presentation (of 3 so far). Big steps for everyone that year. Now we've come to the close of 2010 and the first thing I think about is, hey, I started drinking my coffee black that year. :o) That's big progress. Oh yeah, it's also the year Toby started kindergarten, when BJ got his first official publication (of 5 or 6 or 7...I've honestly lost count--that's a good thing), and...Norah's just grown so much it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing.
So welcome to 2011, I'm excited to see what you have in store for us. Let's get started. (And, yes, I know we're already a week into the new year.... Things are just that busy around here during winter "break"!)
No comments:
Post a Comment