Saying Goodbye

Well, sort of.

I've had a hard time bringing myself in creating this post. There are so many factors that come into play regarding this topic that funneling them was more challenging than I expected.

I'll start with desperately wanting to see 2010 flee from my existence. Unlike most individuals that dread the seasonal changes from warm summer months to brutal cold winters, I actually embrace the changes. I view the hibernation of life as an opportunity to reflect on my personal choices and attitudes from the months past. As I hibernate during the winter, I look forward to reinventing myself into a more positive and productive person. I believe every individual approaches December 31st with great anticipation, hoping that the New Year will be better than the last.

I wanted nothing more than to see 2010 disappear. That was until experiencing the first few hours of 2011.

For the past 2 years, our household has been rocked (almost off its foundation), by a debilitating condition. I feel strongly about revealing this conflict, but that in it of itself is a whole other post! Along with the issues in the home, my dear father was fighting his own health battles, and loosing. The last 6 months became my internal struggle of being a daughter or a nurse, a wife and a mother. Looking back I doubt I performed any of those with proficiency.

I feared for my family that my father would never make it to Christmas (sometimes being a nurse & knowing to much is more of a curse than a blessing), yet he proved me wrong and fought his way through it. The days between Christmas & New Years were the most brutal. Witnessing his demise was unbearable. In the first hour of New Year's Day, he took his final breath.

2011 was starting the way 2010 ended. A physical & emotional train wreck!

Or is it?

These are the winter months. Where "life" around us dies, and we take time to reflect on the years past. We can decide to wallow in our own self pity and regret, or we can rise up to meet the beautiful life that awaits.

I wanted so desperately to say goodbye to 2010 and a big hello to 2011. Only now do I realize that by saying goodbye to that dreadful year, I was also wishing away the final days of an ending life.

Today,.....I want to embrace life's blessings. You know, the simple stuff. Tomorrow, I don't know what's going to happen, or even what my day may look like. But today, as I look at the brown grass and fallen dead leaves, at my feet there is something breaking through the mulch.......

One of my perennials has sprouted.

Life,..... goes on.



Have an intimate day everyone!

Jennifer

Resolutions

Ok people, how many of you have made a New Year's resolution in your life? Now let me ask, how many of those resolutions have you kept? I understand all to well the answers come as no surprise that we rarely stick to resolutions. So let's try a different approach this year. Instead of resolutions, how about committing to a change in your lifestyle as you now know it? Although it may sound to large of a task, but the first step to changing your lifestyle is actually taking only one step at a time.

FIRST:

Identify the areas of your life you would like to improve, and write it down in a notebook or journal.

* Would you like to address your exercise & eating habits?
* Is organization a problem for you?
* Would you like to spend more quality time with your children?
* Is the relationship between you & your spouse lacking in some areas?

By doing just this, you've made a step toward changing your lifestyle.

SECOND:

* Choose from the list, one item that holds the most priority for you.

By choosing just one, the less likely you will feel overwhelmed by all the other changes you'd like to see happen. Choosing ONE makes the change attainable!

THIRD:

* Prepare to commit to that ONE attainable change every day!

Once that change becomes a routine, you'll be ready to move to the next priority on your list.

Keep in mind that a change in lifestyle doesn't have to be ground breaking. Even subtle improvements can make huge differences in your home & work relationships.

For example: If spending more time with your children is important to you, setting a daily half hour to an hour of quality uninterrupted time with your child provides stability and worth not just for them, but for you as well.

Finding moments to share with your children are easier than you think. If you cook dinner for your family, invite the child to help you prepare. Dusting, folding clothes, any routine act you do in your home, you can incorporate your child's involvement. Even the smallest task you give that child provides them great achievement, and most of all, individual time with you. These subtle acts are the changes in lifestyle that should be recognized as success!

Recognize that you as an adult are able to hold a job, run a home & errands without any thought,....because it's a routine action. Routine is the keyword in making lifestyle changes stick.

Each one of us performs daily routine tasks that are necessary. Understand that positive lifestyle changes ARE necessary!

So make your list.

Choose ONE at a time.

Subtle change, is successful change.

And most of all, make it routine!

I hope this weeks post gives you some food for thought, and as I have only mentioned a few options for improving your lifestyle, feel free to offer ways you have been able to make lifestyle changes stick.

Have an intimate day!

Jennifer