Time for some changes. . .

I don't exactly know why we feel compelled to make new years resolutions. How many of them have you made AND actually kept through the years?

I can think of only one that I have made AND kept. I gave up chocolate as a new years resolution in 1990. Seventeen years later, I still don't eat chocolate because to me, I didn't just eat chocolate, I lived for chocolate. I couldn't buy gas without buying a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. And I couldn't eat just one piece of chocolate ever, I had to eat until there was just no more left anywhere.

The funny thing about it is, even though I don't eat chocolate, I still have the same destructive eating habits. I just substitute everything else for chocolate. Especially caramel, peanut butter and well, pretty much anything sweet that doesn't involve chocolate. I cannot open a bag of red licorice without eating the entire bag in pretty much one sitting. And I've learned to eat around chocolate in lots of things too.

Anyway, I digress, this was suppose to be a post about new years resolutions, not about chocolate or my destructive eating habits.

The new year is several days old now, but with all the chaos of travel, etc, I didn't take the time to commit myself to some resolutions. Heaven knows I will likely break them in a few days time, but if I commit to it here, maybe it will actually happen:

1) Gain control of my destructive eating habits. All that weight I lost 3 years ago is coming back fast. I think our trip was really bad for me this way. There was a lot of sitting around and eating and I have no one to blame but myself. I am not setting a goal to shed 10 lbs, but rather to stop all the never ending snacking. If I did that, the 10 lbs would take care of itself.

2) Kill the clutter that has taken over my home. In the past few months as I have focused on my businesses, the clutter has moved in and overwhelmed me. I find myself moving piles around instead of addressing the stuff that is in the pile. Gotta do something about it before you see me on one of those Oprah shows about hoarding.

3) Build up my spiritual self. In my adult life, I have mostly had callings where I teach gospel principles, causing me to focus on them. But now I've been called to work in Cub Scouts. (Another topic for another post I am sure). Not much spiritual about that. So I am setting a goal now to read the Book of Mormon each week for gospel doctrine class (even though we just finished it a few weeks ago as a family) and read and study the Teachings of Joseph Smith.

4) Continue cultivating my talents but not let myself get burned out. I have a tendency to do something (like paper crafting) very intensely for short periods of time and then get burned out and lose interest or stop doing it because my space gets to cluttered. Gonna try and fight that burn out and organize my space so it in conducive to creativity!

5) Be a better mom. Oh wait, I already blew that one by ignoring my son while I write this post. I guess I'd better leave that one for another day and go see what he wants.

Cheers!