It's That Time of Year Again

It's the day after Christmas, the year is drawing to an end, and it is inevitable that our focus begins to turn to the shiny new year waiting just around the corner. I've heard the phrase "New Year's Resolutions" bandied about frequently in the last several days. It's not a term I like much. Mostly because it feels like yet another to-do list I'm going to fail to accomplish.

So this year, I decided to make a Desire List instead....everything sounds better with the word "desire" in it....okay, maybe not EVERYTHING, but it certainly sounds better than "resolutions" which just makes me think of "requiem" for some reason, and that just isn't a fun word.

Anywho....what do I desire for next year? The usual, I suppose....to be a better mom and wife, write some books, sell some books....and of course lose 10 (+ a few dozen and a few dozen more) pounds.

There are a lot more things I'd like to do, more goals to accomplish, but really, those are the big ones for me. Spend more time with my family....continue working on my writing career.

Or to simplify it even further....to keep my focus on the big picture. 

I figure if I keep it simple and keep my focus narrowed on what's truly deep down important to me, maybe the stress of trying to keep up with everything else will lessen. Maybe I won't be so hard on myself when my blogging fizzles. Maybe I won't feel so guilty if I spend a few extra minutes with my kids instead of on a manuscript. Maybe I'll let my exhausted body rest instead of staying up till the wee hours of the morning plugging away on some project or other.

Maybe. :)

I think too often we allow ourselves to get so overstretched and engrossed in whatever million projects we've got going on that we forget to focus on the big picture, the main goal, the one thing we really, truly want. We allow the details to swamp us until we forget the goal we were working toward in the first place.

Lindsay mentioned Pointilism in her awesome post a few days ago....it's sort of like that....We get so focused on the dots we don't see the larger pictures. Are the individual dots important? You betcha. Without them, there wouldn't be a larger picture. But if you spend all your time staring at those dots, you'll never see the masterpiece they form.

So, next year, I'm going to try to focus on the masterpiece, and spend a little less time stressing over the dots. :)

How about you? What's on your Desire List for the new year?