New Year’s Resolution…with a Twist

Happy New Year! Are you as relieved as I am to be back in a more normal routine after the craziness of the holidays?

We spent time with family and friends over the days surrounding Christmas, and then hosted some friends at our house to ring in 2014. While eating Monkey Bread for breakfast on New Year’s Day, there was some discussion about New Year’s resolutions. I don’t typically put a lot of time or energy into thinking up resolutions each year. In fact, I rarely make New Year’s resolutions. But this year is different. I actually started thinking about this whole resolution thing back in December.

Resolutions are a tricky business. While we were talking on New Year’s Day, one of our friends questioned whether it is better to make big, grandiose resolutions, such as “I’m going to lose 50 pounds”, or to make smaller, more easily attainable resolutions, such as “I’m going to eat two servings of vegetables every day.” Personally, I’ve never been good at keeping the big resolutions and I find the smaller resolutions uninspiring. This conundrum (and my inability to make decisions) is probably why resolution making falls low on my list of priorities.

But this year is different because this year I was inspired by other bloggers, including Gretchen Rubin and The Nester, to think outside the resolution box. Instead of coming up with something specific I want to do in 2014 (or not do, as the case may be), I’m following in their footsteps by picking a word (actually, a phrase) that will be my focus for 2014. I know a few friends who will most likely scoff at this idea, but I like taking this broad, all encompassing approach. Instead of focusing on a single aspect of my life, this phrase gives me a lens to view all aspects of my life. And so, after a few weeks of consideration, my phrase for 2014 is this:

There are really two halves to this phrase, and I did consider shortening it to either “take action” or “move forward.” But for me, at this point in my life, they kind of go together. Maybe it’s out of habit or maybe it’s out of fear, but there is a huge gap between the things I want to do and the things I actually do. I have a long list of new things I want to try, new places I want to see, and new experiences I want to have. But rarely do I take the steps to actually try, see, or experience any of them. And I’m beginning to realize that my inability to take action is keeping me from moving forward in my life. And so, this year, I have decided to take action and move forward. What will that look like? More on that later….

In the meantime, I would love to hear about your resolutions. Have you made any resolutions for 2014? If you were going to pick a word or phrase for 2014, what would it be?