Happy 2016!

My family celebrating NYE in our cul-de-sac.

It's a new year! Full of promise and hope and the unknown. I spent the last couple of days pondering how I wanted to make this year better than the last. I found there are a number of ways I could stand to improve myself. This assessment was a bit overwhelming so I'm trying to scale it back and start with a few reasonable goals. 

The past few years I have set achievable goals and actually achieved them. Two years ago I decided to find a new dessert recipe each month and make it. It was quite a delicious challenge. One month I almost missed the deadline. This past year my goal was to hand write a note to every address in my address book (yes I have an actual address book). I surpassed this goal by adding a few notes here and there. I even received a few responses back which was thrilling. I love receiving actual mail! I know email is so much more convenient and faster and I enjoy it also, but there's just something about opening an envelope and reading words in someone's handwriting that makes it extra special.

This year I chose my New Year's Goal to be to execute one craft per month with the kids. This may not sound like much of a challenge to some but I am not a crafty person. I went to a crafting night at a friend's house a few months ago and spent the time coloring in pictures. Not very high on the crafting scale. My daughter LOVES creating things and asks often to do something artsy. I know my son hasn't had a lot of crafting experience because of my lack of skills but I'm sure he could benefit from some time practicing with scissors and markers. Having a plan helps me greatly with execution so having this goal in my head will perhaps get my creativity juices flowing (that and pinterest, of course).

I also am hoping to spend more time blogging. I know right now my posts are sporadic and it is because I struggle with perfectionism. I feel like if I don't have something profound to say, there's no reason to write. But I have learned from others that sharing the everyday experiences of life can be just as encouraging and beneficial to others. Ideally I'd like to work up to once per week this year. A current reasonable goal based on my responsibilities and life stage is twice per month. Perhaps I'll become an overachiever if I can get a routine worked out.

I have been working out some thoughts that have been reinforced by things I've been reading. I really want to grow in gratitude, contentment and joy. I know these things are intertwined. I know that I have everything I need and more. I want to become someone who holds material things loosely and is willing to share my blessings and abundance with others. I want to have a generous heart. I'm not sure how to make this tangible other than to perhaps keep a gratitude journal and pray regularly for these qualities to become manifested in my life. Another avenue would be to seek opportunities to serve or help others.

I have a few other things I am desiring to become habits - like scripture memorization for one - but I think I will have to slowly incorporate them into my life otherwise I am going to fail quickly and become disheartened. It's much easier to add than subtract. For succinctness I will summarize below.

Goals for 2016

1.Plan and execute one craft time with the kids each month
2.Blog two times per month
3.Grow in gratitude, contentment, joy and generosity

Seems like a good start. Do you have any areas of your life where you're hoping to see change or growth? Please share them with me in the comments!