New Year's Resolutions

Of course there is almost no end to the list of things that I would like to accomplish this year. Like every other woman in America I want to lose weight and get in awesome shape. I want to be the best mom and wife I can be. I also want to continue writing and work towards my goals of finishing my novel and getting a short story published. On top of that I want to start my legal career, and improve my spiritual life to boot.

But I've learned from past New Year's resolutions' success rates that I do better with smaller, more manageable goals than a long list of very general desires. So this year I'm starting out simple, and plan on adding some smaller steps as the year goes on. I figure that if I establish one habit at a time it should be easier to keep up.

Greg and I both bought Bible-in-a-year Bibles, which divide the entire Bible into sections for each day. Each day's reading has a passage from the OT, the NT, Psalms and Proverbs. So far just reading the Bible has had a huge impact on the rest of my day. I find myself praying more during the day, and in general I just feel more in control and more aware of the choices I am making.

After three years of law school and a pregnancy I have become very inactive. So much so that I almost didn't know where to begin with a new exercise routine. So I decided that instead of trying to go running the first day (in the snow no less), I would start slowly and build from there. Since I've had back pain for a while (another gift from law school days), and I've always gotten fast results from crunches, I decided to start there, and have been doing just a few ab exercises before bed every night. I add a little bit every time, and as soon as we take down the Christmas tree (which is currently blocking the TV) I'll start doing my old abs of steel tape.

I want to make a goal for writing too, but it can be really difficult to find the time to accomplish what I want. I usually end up staying up late at night, and then I'm such a zombie the next day that I feel guilty for not being really present for Henry. I'll have to think about it some more.

What are your New Year's resolutions?