Simplifying Resolutions

Ah, the new year is now in full swing.

The new year is a time for people to decide to quit smoking, lose weight, vow to get along with their in-laws, quit drinking so much…

And even if you swear you don’t make resolutions because you think they’re silly, most people enter the new year still looking for some sort of…hope.  And change.  (But the kind we actually CAN believe in, right?)

A new calendar seems to equal a new start.  A new beginning.  A fresh new take on life.

Last year I decided that I would accomplish one thing every single month.

You see, starting a project is always easy and fun for me.

Finishing the project?  Well, let’s just say my husband is still waiting on that scarf to be finished from 2006.

Last year, though, I made THE list.  One thing every month for a year.

I figured this was very sensible and very reasonable.  An average of 30 days to finish one project.  I could do that, right?

For example, I planned on sewing my own skirt in March.  Making my own rosary in June.   Making a sourdough starter and then a loaf of sourdough bread from that starter in February.  Praying the rosary every single day in October.  Learning to play “Oh, Holy Night” with BOTH hands on the piano in December.

Restricted funds in March cut the skirt right out of the picture.

Never made my own rosary.

Sourdough starter failed miserably…for the second time in my life.

I DID pray the rosary every day in October–and loved every minute of it.

And, well, December just came and went and I still have no idea how to use my left hand in “Oh, Holy Night” on the piano.

Sigh.

So, this year, I decided to start and finish ONE thing during the entire year.

And that will be to make a (really easy beginner’s) quilt from all of the fabric scraps I’ve acquired in the last year.

One thing.  365 days to do it.  And while having a baby halfway through the year.

Many people say, “Resolutions are so silly!  It’s only a good way to set a goal and then disappoint yourself.”

Yes…yes, they are.  But as a poster child for the Sanguine temperament, I’m on a mission to actually FINISH something that I’ve started.

Because finishing something you started means that you have some drive and self-discipline–which is lacking from my every day life.

I once read a quote that said, “The Lord wants to bless us, but He has to have efforts to bless.”

Sometimes I feel like I need this tattooed on my idle hands so I can be reminded.

Instead of making a list at the start of every year, why aren’t we making a list of goals at the start of every day?

“Today I’m going to offer up my day for ________________.  Today I’m going to be more patient with my children.  Today I’m going to do all of my household chores with a smile on my face.  Today I’m going to get that one cupboard door that has been loose for three months tightened back up.  Today I’m going to greet my husband with a kiss at the front door.  Today I’m going to say prayers at noon and again before bed.”

Maybe some people can do all of those things.

Maybe some can only focus on one per day.

But at least the effort is there.  And “He has to have efforts to bless,” right?

I still hope to make my quilt in 365 days.  It’s something I can enjoy doing in my spare time, and hopefully my daughter will have a quilt by the end of the year–you know, when it’s freezing cold in the midwest and she can actually use it.

But my day-to-day goal(s) are what I hope to really focus on as a mom, a wife, and a Catholic.

So, here’s to a great rest of 2012!

Delena is a stay-at-home mom to three (soon to be four!) children ages five and under.  She chronicles all of the projects she wants to tackle and fails to finish on her blog:  It’s on my to-do list.

photo by Joe Lanman