At the start of this bright new year, I can’t help but find it funny that we create all these resolutions for a new year and most involve better health, yet we stay up so late the night before that we throw out our good intentions before noon on New Year’s Day.  I think the reason this really hit home for me today was that my toddler was up until 11:45 last night.  I have no clue how he didn’t pass out sooner.  Of course his late bedtime had no bearing on his usual wake-up time and he was a disaster until I put him down for an early nap.  We were all so tired this morning that I was throwing out all the usual rules just to keep The Boy from screaming and me from losing my mind.  That’s when I thought to myself, “How is this the right way to start off a New Year?”

I think that’s the part that makes me panic about resolutions.  The moment I don’t fulfill them perfectly is the moment I consider myself a failure and give up altogether.  Is this a healthy way of handling resolutions?  Heck, a healthy way of handling anything in life?  Nope and nope.  I’m reminded of a pin I saw this week –

I’m so afraid of failing at my resolutions that one year I started my New Year’s Resolution on January 17, when I figured the majority of other’s resolutions had already been thrown aside.  I had a goal of losing 50 lbs. and there were 50 weeks remaining in the year so my goal was to lose one pound a week.  I did lose some weight under my plan and then I got pregnant.  And, if you’re wondering if I got pregnant just to avoid the resolution, I’m not 100% certain that I could dispute you on the matter.

But this year, I’m starting my year off with a resolution that I won’t be able to measure in calories, pages, miles, or dollars.  My resolution is to Find Happiness Amongst Trials and happiness in general.  Not just find happiness, but bring happiness.  My resolution is to bring the light and joy with me.  We can get so caught up in the ugly of the world that we fail to realize that sometimes we’re promoting it by continually giving it talk-time.  It seems to me that our natural instinct is often to feed the negative and starve the positive, when it ought to be the other way around.

The most emotionally healthy people that I know have optimism written in their hearts.  They are aware of their thoughts and actions and the impact they have on their own lives and those around them.  They choose to find the silver lining in life and brighten the world with their outlook and demeanor.  That’s what I want for 2014.  I want to illuminate my surroundings.  I want to be Living A Life With Laughter, be Saving by Serving, and Be the Hero in [My] Story.

In short, I want to have a bright new year; not because of fortunate circumstances, but because I made it bright in all circumstances.