My Wish for 2012.

It is my great hope that you have all had the most magical holiday!  It was so wonderful to spend time with family and laugh and eat and play and all that comes with this crazy time of year!  I have been thinking about what I wanted to say about the upcoming year....and of course I have MANY goals for myself on a professional level as well as a personal level that range from financial to physical....but I wanted to share something more specific with all of you....

There is so much craziness in the world, so many scary things, so many lies that are filling our heads.  We tend to get a little out of control and we overcommit and we stress ourselves out and make things harder than they really need to be....as a birth mom I know how difficult I have made things in the past, how emotional I let things become, how angry I allowed myself to be and it snowballed into some very difficult years in my life...

So a few days ago I read something posted by my dear friend Tom Aplomb who we love and look to for inspiration alot....he posted this:

"As New Year's approaches, we are tempted to make the coming year the year of living _____________. I encourage everyone to make 2012 simply The Year of Living. Embrace life with your full presence. Bask in the light and walk bravely through the dark. Experience life in full color and be open to adventure. Push past your limits. Take each tomorrow by storm. Spread your wings . . . and fly."

I was so moved by this very simple thought.....maybe not simple in adjustment, sacrifice and willingness to commit....but very simple in thought...AND HOW BEAUTIFUL.  I was so moved as I have looked back over this past year...things that I have done right, things that I have done wrong, things that have changed within me, things that have grown....And I realized how much I wanted to be present....IN THIS YEAR...living every moment...allowing people around me to live in every moment with me.  I came across a quote that fit perfect with my wish for 2012:

When I read this I thought about the people in my life...the people closest to me...the ones that I make it hardest for when times are the hardest for me....my husband, my daughter, my son that will be joining us, my parents and siblings.  I want to live simply, I want to allow them to live around me in my presence and feel at peace....to feel the great love that I have for each of them....to just live in the moments that are happening now. 

Time goes so fast.  I never thought when I was younger that I would buy into that.  I always thought that I would have forever, that things that I put off until tomorrow would have YEARS before it was too late....it is not that way...IT MUST BE NOW, it must be today...it must be in the present!  I don't want to miss anything....and I want it to be easy....LET ME RE PHRASE THAT.....nothing is ever easy and there will always be things in our life that we can NOT control.......

So the wish is that ANYTHING that is in my power to control.....to make simple....to live simple....to just live...then THAT is what I am doing for 2012.  I am going to STOP making things harder for myself.  I am going to stop stressing about the things that I can NOT control, I am going to learn to go with the flow, to be kind to myself, to be patient with myself and my learning curves and those around me.  I am going to live simple.....

IT TRULY IS THE VERY SIMPLEST THINGS in this life that are the most amazing, most powerful, most comforting, most worthwhile....and the things that get overlooked the most...pushed to the back burner, taken for granted.....

NOT THIS YEAR!!!!!! 

I am so blessed.  My life is about to make another change forever as we welcome a son into our family in just a few weeks......my daughter is going to be turning two.....my hubby and I will have been married 3 years......we will be blessed with another year with amazing family surrounding us and another great year of BIB to look forward to. 

I don't want to miss these things by looking in a million different directions....I dont want to miss these things by trying to change and adjust them before they even happen....

So my wish this year and a mantra that I will be working on is this:

"As New Year's approaches, we are tempted to make the coming year the year of living _____________. I encourage everyone to make 2012 simply The Year of Living. Embrace life with your full presence. Bask in the light and walk bravely through the dark. Experience life in full color and be open to adventure. Push past your limits. Take each tomorrow by storm. Spread your wings . . . and fly."

I am so excited for a new year, a fresh start, an excuse to take a good hard look at what is in front of us and what is truly important. I will be reminding myself A LOT about throughout the year......this feeling goes away....the motivation and the fire of the new year.....it gets blown out by LIFE....so we will need the reminder. 

Have a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!  We are so blessed and I am so excited to spend another year with you all!