New Year. New You. Really?

You hear a ton of how we would be so much better off if we only lost weight. Ate less. Moved more. Cut back on social media. Shopped less. Saved more. And so on.

In fact, the news this morning was chock full of ways reminding me how to be more organized, eat better, work out and even introducing me to new products available I could easily BUY that might help me reduce my clutter. Yeah right. (I need to call 1-800-Got-Junk to reduce my clutter.)

None of this is new information. And I think if we’re honest we can agree that we would all benefit from doing some of the above … all year long and not just on January 1st. And every year it’s the same list of goals. Am I wrong?

But would any of this make me a ‘new’ or better person? Probably not.

I’ve been percolating on these for a while and wanted to put them out there to hold me accountable. These are my hopes, not just for a new year but for life.

I want to have the desire to be happy and be genuinely happy. Not just ho-hum or ‘existing’, but satisfied and happy.

I want to look forward to each day with fervor and excitement. I don’t want to have to ‘make myself’ do anything. I want to WANT to do (insert any activity here) without any hesitation and with a smile on my face.

I want to raise independent, socially adjusted, responsible little humans that are caring and kind and possess a thirst for life and new experiences.

I want invest time in my kids and have them know that I love them more than anything else in this world.

I want to continue to honor my son and tell the world about him. I want everyone to see his beautiful smile and know his spirit. This helps me to keep him alive.

I want to find my purpose. It has been (and is) one of mom and caregiver but is that enough. I want to be fulfilled and have pride in my role in this world.

So instead of needing to do less of one thing and more of another to balance the life seesaw and find our happiness, let’s just ‘be’. And emotionally invest in what’s important (many times this is YOU.) Build up your family. Love your kids. Be a kind human. Do the little things that make a difference.