2014: A New Year

  It's January.  A new year is here, bringing new opportunities.  It never used to mean anything to me, but the older I get, the more it becomes a time of reflection and refocusing; pulling apart the previous year and looking for ways to improve on it.  I guess it's called growing up. Eek.

  Nowdays I get a real buzz from this 'starting fresh' vibe; a burst of optimism and motivation, which I must latch on to quickly before it fades.  I'm determined to do better in 2014 and honestly, it shouldn't take much to improve on last year.  2013 was the year of LAZY.  I think perhaps, subconsciously, I realised I'd spend 3/4 of the year pregnant, and just wrote 2013 off.

  Anyway, while trying to get more organised one other year I found these great questions that I like to look over to aid the whole process of self evaluation and goal-setting.  As I look over my successes and failures, I learn a lot about myself and my family and what does/doesn't work for us.  I think one of the big lessons of 2013 for me was to give myself a break.


 It is just so easy to get stuck in this mindset of comparison and ideals, which is so heavily promoted by the internet.  Facebook and blogs etc. can paint seemingly perfect pictures of another person's life, or even character - as though they face all their woes with calm and dignity while I'm crying in a corner somewhere.  I'm learning to catch myself and keep a realistic perspective, but also to appreciate my own struggles.  When I say 2014 will be better, I don't mean that it will necessarily be more enjoyable, but hopefully I'll be a little wiser and better equipped to tackle the issues that earlier might have crippled me.

  Writing this post is actually a big step in my personal growth.  You see, I'm terrified of other people's opinions.  I have no idea how to deal with criticism, but I've decided to write this anyway knowing people might even read it and .. not like it. Eep. Please be gentle. :)

  My next goal: to post some goals for this year.  See you then.