Theme for 2012 - Perspective

My theme for this year is perspective. Basically, my focus will be on taking more time to evaluate all the angles of a topic in an effort to make things more positive in my life. I have a tendency to get stuck on the negative, so this is something I'd really like to improve. A small change in the way I think about something can make a huge difference in the experience.

For my first attempt, I'm going to take a different perspective on the traditional new year resolutions. I hate the idea of looking at my life to find all that I do wrong so I can make it "right." If the purpose of these resolutions is to get us to reflect on our lives, then I'd rather highlight the things I want to continue.*

Things I want to continue this year: (in no particular order)

I've been trying hard to be kind to myself, which is something I've with which I have always struggled. I don't know why, but it was so much easier (and sadly more believable) to belittle myself with what I could have/should have done. I gotten better catching when I'd have those negative thoughts and countering them with something positive. It has been so good for me, so this is one thing I definitely want to continue.

I want to continue to spend quality time with my family. I love finding new, interesting things to do with them. Last year we had so much fun together. I hope this year can be equally fun.

I want to continue with daily writing on the boys' blog. I think right now, I've blogged daily for a year and a half--quite an accomplishment for me! At some point, I'm also going to convert the blog posts into books for them.

I want to continue writing here on this blog. I usually reserve this blog for what I consider my more raw feelings, and I treasure that I don't feel like I have to hide what I feel here. While I don't get here as often as I'd like, I do enjoy this space.

I want to continue to carve out time for myself in the day. I may not be able to do all of the "me" things I would like to do (does anyone?), but I have managed to do a little something for "me" each day.

I want to continue to push myself to do the things I don't really want to do. I am quite skilled at avoidance, which is something I don't especially like about myself. Over the last few months I've done a few things that were pretty big because I pushed myself to do them. They were hard, but they were good for me. I need more of that.

I want to continue to find ways to do something good for those outside of my circle. Hopefully, by watching me do good for others, my boys will learn to do the same.

I want to continue to give myself permission to not sweat the small stuff. It was easier to do than I thought it would be. :-)

I want to continue to do my shopping online. Oh how I love online shopping!

I want to continue to read blogs. I enjoy reading and blogging. Reading your blogs is a perfect combination!

So there it is, my first attempt at changing my perspective and looking at things in a new way. I'm going to add to my list as I think of things. I have to say that it feels so much better to focus on the positive in my life rather than all the ways I need to improve. :-)

Want to join me in changing the way we view new year resolutions? I'd love to hear what you want to continue next year.

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P.S. It's national comment delurking week. I'd love to hear from you all!

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*I've been working on this post in my head for a few days (since before I "officially" committed to my theme word Saturday on Prompt-ly), but I've discovered that Tesseract did something very similar on her post yesterday. :-) Great minds and all of that, right? lol. She got her idea from Monday Listicles from The Good Life.