New Year Resolution

Here’s a New Year resolution that’s actually fun: write down each wish, hope, or whimsy, then tuck them into your holiday ornaments before you store them away.

New Year Resolution Challenge

A new year means it’s time for a New Year resolution. We’ve all gained another year of life, and so much can happen in 365 days.

Looking back on everything that unfolded over the past year can be the spark that pushes us toward bigger, better, and more meaningful things in the year right ahead of us.

New Year Resolution 1: Cherish yesterday

If there was ever a better moment to make a New Year resolution to cherish yesterday, it’s now.

When I revisited the resolutions I set at the end of 2020, I was reminded just how important it is to cherish yesterday.

The yesterdays we once knew have changed in ways none of us expected, and I’m still not sure whether all of those changes were for the better.  

Being able to move freely, make memories with friends and family, eat out, hug people, and live without a face covering is something we can all long for.

And when I think about the health care workers who risked their lives to make sense of, or at least ease, such a nightmare, I hope I’ll always be grateful.  

2020 Resolutions

As 2020 began and life was suddenly turned upside down, I found myself appreciating the many skills and talents I’d picked up over the years.

So many of those abilities helped me care for myself and my family through that season and share some of my gifts with others in a meaningful way. 

New Year Resolution Long Ago

I still remember being a young teen and setting a New Year resolution to learn how to sew.

I loved high fashion, but my small town in the 60’s didn’t carry the front-cover Italian or French Vogue looks I dreamed about.

Since I believed I should be able to have what I wanted, I decided I’d make it myself. I learned how to design and sew just about anything my little eyes landed on. 

Pandemic New Year

When the pandemic first struck and masks were nowhere to be found across America, I knew I had something to contribute.

With a two-month wait before anything would be shipped here from China, I knew exactly what needed to happen.

I began making masks until my fingers were sore and my shoulders hurt from bending over the sewing machine.

Aside from my family, the first people to get masks from me were those working in the food industry.

Medical masks required special specifications, but I knew I could use my skills to help protect the people keeping our food supply moving.

I did exactly that, and I was thankful for a silly New Year resolution I’d made many years before. 

New Year Resolution 2: Dream Tomorrow

Tomorrow holds so many unknowns, yet every year on January 1st, many of us start imagining what might come next.

We can make New Year resolutions, promise ourselves to dream bigger, and choose hope for the things still ahead.

There’s something about creating a clean slate that helps us feel steady again and rebuild a little confidence.  

I remember March 2020 arriving with its life-altering news, and yet I was still able to stay focused on the future and on projects I’d never had time to chase before.

There were dreams I could finally give my attention to and possibly bring to life. 

The Resolution Of Quality Time

One of my adult children and I had planned a trip together in February, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to spend an entire week of quality time side by side.

He’s a husband, a dad of two, and the executive chef for a very busy events company. Getting my son all to myself for that kind of time felt like a dream come true. 

Because it was still early in the year, we were both very aware of the New Year resolutions we’d made only a month earlier.

One of my wishes, one of my resolutions, was to make time for each of my children and create special moments with them.

New Year Resolutions Fulfilled

At that point, I was already living out my 2020 New Year resolution—until 2020 stopped feeling like just another year and turned into a curse word.

We went on our trip and felt like storm chasers, because every city we visited, and left behind, was announcing its first Covid case.

We made beautiful memories together, then rushed back home to hunker down as quickly as we could. 

Now I’m back to setting a new New Year resolution: to be grateful every single day that all of my loved ones made it through 2020.

New Year Resolution 3: Live Today

As the new year approaches, I’ve already made my New Year resolution. Eat better? No. I’ve always been a health nut and careful about what I put in my mouth (wink).

Exercise more? Nah. Years ago, while juggling life as a single mom of 4 children, I learned to do everything myself; who needs exercise when you’re always on the move!

I’m not the type to pay someone for work I can handle on my own. I’d rather scrub a floor, dig a ditch, or do any other kind of hard physical labor than go to the gym! But sometimes, you just have to do it!

My New Year resolution this year is simple: live each day as if it were my last. I

have tried many times throughout my life to write about the remarkable, and often very strange, life I’ve lived, but I could never get past some of the painful parts and keep going.

That changed when 2020 hit, and suddenly my hard life didn’t seem quite so hard. So… I decided to learn how to write, not as a book, but as a script for film.

My New Year resolution is to finish that script and see whether someone might want to turn it into a movie. 

New Year Lifestyle

Another New Year resolution I made this year was to do more with my food blog than simply share recipes.

I believe my life, and everything I’ve lived through, has prepared me to offer encouraging lifestyle ideas to others.

Of course, a fresh, healthy recipe felt like the perfect way to begin the year, which is why I’m sharing one of my favorite New Year recipes here: The Perfect Ginger Carrot Red Lentil Soup.

Just the bright orange color will remind you that sunny spring days are right around the corner.

Its health benefits are incredible, and the gingery, spicy flavor will quickly have you trading in the old ‘black eyed pea’ tradition for this one.

New Year Resolution Accountability

I came up with a fun way to hold myself accountable for the New Year resolutions I’m making right now.

Almost everyone celebrates a holiday that involves taking out ornaments, decorations, or special items that get packed away once the holiday is over.

In the video I’m sharing, you’ll see that I’ve started a new tradition. As I put my ornaments away, I write down a wish, a resolution, a dream, or a whimsy and slip it inside before storing it.

When it’s time to bring them out again, I can revisit my New Year resolutions, see which ones I accomplished, and which ones may need to be tucked away for another year.

I call it, ‘My New Year Resolution Accountability’! 

It’s time to make a New Year Resolution. Think carefully about it this year, then make it matter and bring it to life.

And don’t forget to Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow, and Live Today! Stay safe, and I’ll see you back here next year xoxo!