Resolutions? Starting in July sounds good...

I'm starting to understand the beauty of a New Year's Resolution. Not so much in keeping them, but in the fresh feeling of a clean slate --the desire to start anew. The date itself makes sense, but even more so when the Christmas Chaos is finished. There are no immediate holidays on the horizon. There are no crazy vacations to schedule (usually). School resumes with little fanfare, and we go back to our routines with little decorations to show for it.

It's good. It feels good. It's like when you organize all the cupboards in your kitchen and can let out a sigh of contentment, because, for those few moments (and hopefully days!) you know exactly what you have, where it goes, and what you are to do with it.

New Year's Resolutions are like that. You know what you have (a broken person --in my case --yearning to be fixed on all sides). You know where it goes (a fixable state). You know what you are to do with it (Fix, fix, fix!). There's time to think about it and the desire is usually extremely strong.

Now, let's set aside that only a quarter of all NYR's make their way to the goal line, because that talk is just negative. To be completely honest, I usually make my new goals around Summertime. Weight Loss? I did that in July. Becoming a Writer? I did that in September. Learn to like Laundry? Yeah, like that'll ever happen. But can you see my pattern? Resolving to accomplish goals late in the year have yielded me much success.

However (boy, there are a lot of "howevers" in my posts --have you noticed?), this time I think I need to set some NYR's for myself. So, in the spirit of the Holiday, I present these goals of mine for your judging eyes (and for future taunting, if I do not follow through!):

• I will keep writing (that's an obvious one, eh?)
• I will continue to lose weight
• I will not get discouraged by publisher's rejection letters
• I will open my scriptures up daily (notice I didn't say how much or how long I would read!)
• I will devote more time to my household responsibilities
• I will strive to be a better wife and mother

Not so bad, eh? There's nothing wrong with creating NYR's that one can keep...

What are YOUR NYR's?

P.S. I'll give you all the crazy Christmas details tomorrow. Believe you me, you'll want to stay tuned!