I realize we’re already well into the new year, but I’ve been pretty inundated with A Couture Cause all month. Now that my big project is winding down, it finally feels like the first of January. Aside from the fact that there are still stray nutcrackers and glitter pine cones lurking around every corner of my house, I’d say 2016 is off to a pretty great start. There’s something so refreshing about starting anew. It gives us the chance to refocus our lives and at least attempt to get on the tracks heading in the right direction. I’m not really making any groundbreaking resolutions this year though. Every year I make these ridiculously hard to achieve resolutions that are virtually impossible to keep and then I’m back where I started by February 1st. NOT working out 3 days a week, eating french fries instead of kale salad and drinking more than the daily 4 oz allocation of wine that Dr. Oz says is “good for us.” This year, I’m keeping it broad and focusing on three overarching goals for 2016–patience, kindness, and organization.
I’ve pretty sure I’ve told y’all about my Mom burning the ‘love is patient, love is kind’ message on my brain. Patience and kindness really go hand in hand in life don’t you think? I find myself being the worst version of myself during episodes of impatience. You know, first world problems. Anxiety over how long the Starbucks line is when I’m already late (can we say caffeine addiction?!), losing my cool with the Comcast service guy who doesn’t know how to fix my internet speed, annoyance when one of the kids says my name 25 times in a row when I’m on the phone with said Comcast person. You know the drill. I read back over what I just wrote and all I can see is someone who needs a chill pill. It’s time to get zen. And I think the best way for me to get zen is to simply slooooow doooooown. Schedule less = stress less. Maybe I’ll be late every once in a while, but at least I’m not stressing out over things that don’t matter that much. And if I cancel a play date to just be at home with the kids instead of running all over town, in between school and meetings, that’s ok too.
The organization piece is a contact struggle. I posted about it last year in my Happiness Project series {sadly I’ve yet to finish the book—stay tuned, maybe}. Anyway, I like to blame the lack of storage space in my house but really it’s my inability to purge early and often. This is a work in progress. I’m starting small and planning to attack one area in my house a week for the next several weeks. First up, my office. This should be the most zen spot in my house given the amount of time I spend there but it ends up being the place where I hide the bodies. Everything that doesn’t have a home finds one here with piles for miles in my 2×4 windowless office closet.
So, less is more for me this year, as I try to refocus on these three very important pillars in my life. I think if I do so, I’ll be a better wife, mom, friend and overall happier me.
Oh but wait, I just thought of one major change I’ve been planning to implement this year. Less phone time and less photos in 2016. Since I’m a blogger, I’m sure you’d think this goal is counterintuitive to the blog culture of photos and social media galore. Yep and nope. I’ll still be taking blog photos but I’m going to take less photos of stuff and kids. I don’t want this to come off as insensitive it’s really about losing the attachment to my phone. I really rarely talk on the phone anymore. If I’m with my kids, more often than not I screen calls. But as much as I hate to admit it, I’m constantly connected to my phone. The majority of the time I just carry it around in case I want to take a photo. But then find myself checking social media or getting distracted by a text because the phone is always so accessible. Really it’s a photo-taking obsession that leads to these other distractions though. Do I really need photos of my half eaten cookie? No. Eat the dang cookie and enjoy it for all of it’s calories. How about 5 photos of the same fresh flowers from the farmers market? No, stop and SMELL the roses, lady. Do y’all think I’m totally insane? On average, how many photos do you take a week? This year, I’m carrying the phone around less. Leaving it on the counter when the kids are playing in the backyard. We don’t need a new photo a day of C going down the slide. One every now and again will certainly suffice for the memory books. So if I don’t text you back right away, please let me apologize in advance. But honestly I’m not all that sorry, and I won’t expect you to text me right back either because hopefully you’re doing something awesome without being distracted by your phone too. Again, less {phone} is more {happiness}!
Happy belated new year! Make it a good one!
