So, I'm afraid that my posting for last year became non-existent shortly after early November. There is a very good explanation for that. After more than a year and a half of a brutal court battle, it finally all came to a head during Thanksgiving Break. Thankfully, I won my case, but it took a LOT of time and effort which meant I had less time for my blog.
I did, however, take the time each day to find something that I was grateful for. By last night, I had come to realize that a lot of my issues had come from how I viewed them. Once I focused more on the positive things, it became so much easier to notice them. I also came to find that Riker was struggling with a similar issue. It has been very hard to watch him become so engrossed in all of the negative things that have been going on. Oddly enough, my attempts to help him have just forced me to find even MORE positives in my life.
The best part is that with the holidays over the last few months, I have had even more time to reflect and evaluate my life. I have really come to appreciate more simple things. As a result, I have been a lot less focused on trying to get everything perfect. I have been a little easier on myself. I have smiled more. I have tried to let things go and move on. I have even had more time for myself (which made more time for craft habit).
As part of our New Year's Eve celebrations, I had the kids write down all the crappy things that had happened to them over the last year. Some of the things they wrote down were petty and happened within the last several hours. Some of the things they came up with were very influential in their lives and have had a great impact on them this year (Data's broken arm and corresponding surgeries and complications being a good instance). Then, we all folded them up, took a deep breath, and threw them in the fire as a physical way to let it go and move forward. From there, we listed all the wonderful things that happened and the blessings that we were grateful for (this list was significantly longer) and wrote them on a paper lantern and set it floating in the sky to remind us that there are always good things that happen and that we have to keep our chin up to see them. (I seriously came up with this idea in the middle of our festivities and was so impressed by how well it went over that I will definitely be incorporating it into future New Year's Eve traditions).
Like many others in the spirit of New Year's, I have come up with a list of resolutions for 2012. Instead of trying to start them all at once and inevitably falling short after a few months or weeks, I am going to try to take my master list and split it up into smaller, more attainable goals and only try to work on one at a time. This may mean that I never get to some of them before the end of the year, but at least I will be able to work on some of them. My plan is to split them up into 52 goals and add them in, one at a time, each week. Think I can do it? I do.
So, my first goal is to have Family Home Evening with my family every Monday, even on days when Riker has to work (this is one thing that always threw us off before). Unfortunately, updating my blog is a little lower on my priority list this year, so I may not be tracking things on here regularly for several weeks, but I will try to touch bases every now and then to keep things updated and keep track of my progress.
I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas season and are looking forward to the fresh opportunities that this year has in store for you. Here is to a GREAT 2012!
