Why I’m Not Making Big Resolutions This Year
Happy 2023! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year and that you’re starting off the year feeling positive and excited. At the top of each year, I love writing a post about my New Year’s resolutions. As cliche as it may sound, I genuinely enjoy looking back at these posts at the end of each year to see if I was able to keep up with my goals. What was I able to achieve? What am I still striving towards?
Naturally, on New Year’s Eve, Phil and I each set out to write down our resolutions for the year as we usually do. While he was busy writing away, I found myself in a full-out writer’s block. This was surprising to me because I’ve always been such a goal-oriented person.
In fact, I’m the self-proclaimed Monica from “Friends” of New Year’s Resolutions. Resolutions usually flow out of me quickly and deliberately with a clear plan. From there, I stay super organized to a fault—even adding check boxes to my lists so that I can cross my resolutions off as I go. Yeah—I’m usually THAT girl.
But this year felt different.
I sat in my writer’s block for a moment and tried to unpack what I was feeling. I soon realized that this year, I am feeling quite overwhelmed by the thought of resolutions. Of course I want to continue living a healthy lifestyle, staying creative, working hard, being the best mom I can be, etc. However, instead of continuing to raise the bar with my resolutions, I want to practice something very new for me: trying to truly live in the moment and to appreciate what I have—full stop. My kids and family are a huge inspiration in this department for me. They bring pure joy and meaning to my life and remind me what is truly important. In 2023, I want more of that feeling!
Likewise, rather than any fancy goals for 2023, my simple resolution will be that I want to keep asking myself the following question:
What if it all works out?
As someone whose mind is always worrying about the future and all of the challenging things that may happen rather than enjoying the present, I’m going to work on this as much as I can.
I’m curious to find out if this will bring my anxiety levels down overall, and if it will help me to find peace within situations I am always fixating on that I cannot control. It only took me thirty-something years to land here but it feels so good.
And with that, here’s to 2023! I can’t wait to see where this year takes us. For starters, we converted Sadie’s crib into a big girl bed today so it was already a great start! She’s SO excited for this transition and I’m not crying, you’re crying. Time is flying!
What are your resolutions for 2023?
Do you have them all planned out or are yours more simple like mine are this year? Tell me everything in the comment section below and as always, thanks so much for stopping by!
Photography: Azusa Takano