These are not written in any particular order of importance, but here goes:
Challenge 1 - Organization, organization, organization!
I am definitely a more cluttered person and I tend to be
surrounded by a lot of things, things I am working on, things I like to look
at, things I never found a permanent home for, things I don’t know where came
for, where are going or where belong. You get the picture; I am surrounded by
things – my things, my husband’s things, our things, and our kids’ things. They
all add up to one gigantic organizational challenge. This year though I am
determined to take small steps towards getting systems in place that work for
me and for us. They might not make much sense to anyone else, but they will hopefully
make sense to us.
Challenge 2 – Continuing to take pride in what we have
Essentially, this is sort of like forgetting about the
Joneses and living our life. No matter how hard I try to convince myself that we are already doing
this, there is always a moment when the feeling of jealousy sneaks into our
life. It may be something small such as a piece of clothing or a lunch at a
restaurant, or something larger that pertains to house, car, hobbies or travel.
Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for the life that we live and I do
realize that we are indeed blessed in so many ways. However, I think it is only
normal to look at what others have and, even if just for a moment, wish that we
had the same. So, besides continuing to count my blessings, this year I want to
set some goals for attaining some of the things we might be yearning for, such
as a weekend away with our kids or a nice anniversary dinner out.
Challenge 3 – Loving my job and all it entails
Ok so maybe loving is a strong word, but liking is
definitely a must! I am of course talking about my job as a stay-at-home mom
and household manager at our casa. I think I can to get to that point, or at
least closer to it, maybe by achieving some of the upcoming challenges too….
Challenge 4 – Do my best at everything I do, from mundane
tasks to items of greater importance
This goes hand in hand with challenge number 3. Essentially it
can be viewed as taking pride in my livelihood, in all its unglamorous
repetitiveness.
Challenge 5 – Stay calm with my kids, or just in general
Ok, I have a temper. I am not proud to admit that, but I
definitely do and I would like to teach myself how to use it appropriately. First
of all, there has to be a constructive way to use that bottled up energy; I
just need to figure out what that is. Secondly,
I am convinced there are ways for me to stay more on an even keel. Maybe yoga or
meditation should be a required weekly activity?
Challenge 6 – Keep my mood up
My husband always says that my mood rules the house. Though
he is probably right, I don’t want him to be (at least not in this case). Back
to challenge number 5 and that even keel….I think it would make me overall
happier or more content in my daily life.
Challenge 7 – Find exercising fun
I have always thought that exercising was a drag and there
were so many other things I would rather be doing. And everyone always said I
just have not found the right thing for me. Well maybe that is the ultimate
challenge, finding exercise that I find fun! I do know that dancing was always
fun and whenever I took a dance class, not only did I stay in shape, I also had
a great time doing it….maybe I can find back to it?
Challenge 8 – My health and my body
This one goes hand in hand with challenge number 7. Getting
healthy and staying that way needs to be a priority of mine. I want to stick
around and I want to be in good shape when my kids have kids too. I have not yet decided exactly what this will entail but I I do know that both being active and food and cooking falls under this one.
Challenge 9 – Keep my expectations in check
Being realistic about my expectations has proven to be
nearly impossible for me, but it is worth a shot. This applies to all aspects
of my life, including my day-to-day activities with my family as well as things
in my social and professional life. In regards to my daily grind – maybe I
would achieve just as much if I expected just a little less of myself and my
kids? I think I have caused people close to me to be afraid of doing anything
for me because they think they cannot measure up to my expectations. However, ultimately
I would just love for someone to think of doing something unexpected every once
in a while and I am pretty certain that it would indeed surpass my expectations
when it came down to it.
Challenge 10 – Go with the flow
“Taking things as they come “makes me cringe. I think I am
afraid of giving up all control mostly because I am afraid of getting
disappointed, which goes hand in hand with challenge number 9.
Challenge 11 – Get out of my own way
I have long been aware that I am my own worst critic and the
person who gets in the way of my dreams and aspirations. To a certain extent I am very much a chicken. I
manage to downplay my qualifications to the point where I don’t even see a reason
in really trying something new since I am convinced I am not going to be good
at it anyhow. I also tend to second guess myself quite a bit, even more so now
after having had kids.
Challenge 12 – Building and Maintaining Relationships
This challenge pertains to my husband, my kids, my family
and my friends. I simply want to invest more time and energy in the people around me; I
want to show them how much they really mean to me.
Challenge 13 – Making up my mind
Challenge 13 – Making up my mind
I used to be able to make decisions on the spot…but for some
reason I am having a hard time of it now. I wonder if this is due to the fact
that my decisions are not only affecting me anymore. It seems that the mere thought
of how the outcome of my actions will affect my husband and my kids or our life
can be paralyzing at times! I need to just do it!
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