Happy New Year?

First snowfall of 2012

It's 2012!  Actually we are almost halfway through January already!  Did you make any resolutions?  According to the internet, ONLY 8% of resolutions made are kept.  8%!!  Those are stiff statistics to overcome.  However, if we built change against the odds of statistics there wouldn't be much success.  A friend reminded me of a Nathaniel Branden quote, which is "The first step towards change is awareness."  In case you are wondering, the second step is acceptance.  Powerful words!

Maybe there isn't much you are looking to change this year.  Maybe you are glad to have 2011 over and done with.  Maybe you feel sad that 2011 has ended because it was a great year for you.  I'm not sure where you are.  I feel more like holding on to 2011 because it was a good year for me and my family.  That being said, I welcome a new year and look forward to the possibilities it holds.  I'm thankful even for the challenges that 2011 put in my path because I grew in ways I hadn't anticipated.

Here a few my favorite 2011 highlights:

Sydney started Kindergarten and is learning to read.
John was baptized and our kids were there to witness it.
Elliot read a 476 page book, on his own, and it didn't have a single picture!
We experienced our first family trip to Disney's Magic Kingdom.
My sister, Emily, had her first baby.
I started this blog, which reminded me how much I love to write.

I feel deep appreciation for many other things that happened too...it's just that those really stick out to me.

I've looked at my life since January 1st and took a little inventory.  There are things I want to change.  I want to be more organized around our house.  I want to learn the names of the books of the Bible, in order.  I want to maintain my gym routine. But, aside from those things I really want to show a deep appreciation for what I already have.

Sydney and Elliot request to sleep in Elliot's room together every night.  Sometimes I stand outside the door and listen to them whisper to each other.  They say the most beautiful prayers to each other.  They pray for our cat that went to "cat heaven" in 2011.  They talk about what they will do when they are in heaven.  It's adorable and so innocent.  It's in those moments that I don't want another year to arrive...I want to bottle up this time and save it forever.  I need to somehow show deep appreciation for these moments.

So, I'm back to the odds.  There's that 8% again.  As Mr. Branden stated...the first step in change is awareness.  I'm going to apply that quote to my life, and also pray that God will give me the perseverance to move forward.  Besides, I read a great quote today from Mastin Kipp of The Daily Love.  "If you improve just 1% a day, in 100 days you’ll be 100%."  Those are odds I can live with.

Thanks for reading.