As the final hours of 2015 tick by, I find myself pondering the past year and the new year to come. The adage “New Year, New You” keeps popping into my mind. We’ve all heard it, and we’ve all probably based some sort of belief in it. Yes, I believe even the most cynical of people have probably believed that when the clock strikes 12 we get this fresh start for a better year to come.
I too believe it, but as I stated in my blog post last year, I don’t necessarily think we need a new year to make a new change…all we need is a new month, a new week, a new day, a new hour, heck, even just a new minute to say to ourselves, “this is my new fresh start” but there sure is something special about the New Year, and boy do I buy into it! The whole resolutions thing, I do pretty well at them. I usually make a few, and end up being successful at one. Hey, that is a success in my eyes! Last year my big ones were to stay the course on our budget, and to start up my blog again. As you read this post, you know which one was my winner 😉
This year, I got to thinking about my resolutions for 2016. I don’t necessarily want to be a “New Me” – I want to be a better me. It’s unrealistic to believe that I will go to the gym or workout every day of 2016…heck, it’s unrealistic to believe I will make it there X amount of days each week. It’s unrealistic to believe I won’t drink a Coke this year, or will eat nothing but healthy foods. It’s unrealistic to think I will get back my “high school body” – a lot has happened to this body since then. It’s endured over 10 years of time and birthed 2 babies. Even if it did get back to the same weight it once was, I know deep inside of me it wouldn’t look or feel the same. Instead of continuing these longtime resolutions, I’m going to instead resolve to love and accept my body for what it is, embrace all it’s done and all it will do, and promise to take better care of it this new year than I have in the past year.
It’s unrealistic to believe my love of shopping is just going to disappear when the clock strikes 12, though I know my husband wishes this were the case! I know stepping into stores causes me temptation to buy things that we don’t necessarily need. I’m a sucker for a sale, and my ADD gets the best of me. I go in for one thing and come out with a bunch of other things and SOMETIMES I don’t even come out with what it is I went in for! #truth. I know this is my struggle, and my hubby knows this is my struggle. We know shopping is inevitable in the New Year, so we’ve decided to prepare ourselves for it instead of prevent it. I went out and got a huge stockpile of all of our necessities…cleaning products, paper towels, formula for the baby…you get it. Our storage area pretty much looks like it could be featured on ‘Doomsday Preppers’ haha but here’s the thing, if I don’t have to go out for one of these “necessities”, I won’t be tempted to buy something else. We also signed up for ‘Blue Apron’ and got our first delivery yesterday. We are hoping we love it when we make it for dinner tonight so that it will assure that we are eating in at least 2 times per week. I love to cook, but sometimes with 2 kids, it gets hard to get everything bought, prepared and cleaned up…Blue Apron takes one of those tasks out of the equation, and again, doesn’t allow that extra temptation of unnecessary shopping. Our last preparation for our finances in the new year is the switch to the envelope system. It’s SO easy to swipe a credit card. It’s so easy to spend and not pay attention to how much you are really spending by doing so. With the envelope system, you allot a certain amount of CASH into different spending categories, and you use that cash to pay for your goods in that category each month. I plan to do an entire blog post on this once we get our categories 100% figured out ourselves 🙂 So instead of resolving to save and not spend in the new year, I am instead resolving to spend smarter so we can save more, and to use up what we have here first before even thinking of buying more.
I am proud of my blogging in the past year and am excited for where it is going! Expect new and exciting things out of The Bailey Bunch in the new year! I purchased a domain and will be working with a web designer to brand my blog. I hope to work with new companies to bring you new reviews, savings codes and maybe even a few giveaways! I will not resolve to have X amount of blog posts out this new year, or wish to have X amount of followers, but I will instead resolve to give an even greater effort of being obedient when the Lord lays a topic to share on my heart so I can hopefully touch MY audience who cares about what it is I have to say.
So body, budget and blog are my three big resolutions for the the new year, but there is one other thing that has been on my mind and heart…
I battle perfectionism. I want to be perfect. I want my house to be perfect. I want my kids to be prefect. I want my life to be perfect. But life isn’t perfect. I heard a really great quote on the radio today. The woman said “God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, so why do we expect perfection out of ourselves, and others?” Well that sure got me thinking! This isn’t a “Realistic Resolution” for me. There is nothing concrete to it like a budget kept or blogs posted…this is something that only I can do for myself, and depends on nobody but me. So instead of resolving to be perfect at my resolutions this year, I’m instead resolving to give myself some grace in my resolutions. If I over indulge on eating or spending, I’m going to remind myself what I wrote last year, I’m going to remember that it only takes a minute to make a new change, and make that change in that minute instead of waiting for the next new year. I think the one way I can win this battle against perfection is to pray more. It’s going to take a lot of prayer, and I’m ready and willing to go to battle. Prayer keeps you closer to the Lord, and I need that closeness to Him to remember that just because my legs aren’t shaved and I didn’t get my hair and makeup done for the day, I am still beautiful in His eyes. I need that reminder that just because my house isn’t pristine, it doesn’t discredit the fact that I am a good housewife and mother. I need Him in my everyday life to give me peace in my parenting, knowing that I am a good mom who is making good decisions for her children. Point blank, I need the Lord in my life more to be a better and more perfect me, and the way to having that is through prayer!
So my friends, I wish you the very best in 2016! Make your resolutions to be a better you, but remember that one moment of failure in them doesn’t make you a failure at them. Resolve to make realistic resolutions that allow you to pick back up if you fall off the course. You have an entire year ahead of you to make it your best yet!
Happy New Year from The Bailey Bunch!
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