The holidays have a way of stopping you in your tracks—forcing you to take stock of your life and your future.
I’ve always loved the holidays. I love spending time with family and I love all the festive decorations and the smell of pine that is inevitable in the air this time of year. I just didn’t realize how much this holiday season would affect me.
With two small kids who get so excited about Christmas morning, it just seems to get better and better. But, being a mom has also made me wish things would slow down a little. I don’t want time to move so quickly. I want to enjoy each day and not take anything for granted.
I still can’t believe I’m a mom of a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old. It seems like just yesterday my husband and I were trying unsuccessfully to have a baby. It wasn’t until three years later—after many tears and many tests—that my dream of becoming a mom finally happened and my daughter was born. After another two years and one painful miscarriage, I had my son. All that time now seems like a blur, and I can’t believe we will once again be exchanging presents around the tree in just a few days.
I haven’t made my New Year’s resolutions yet, but when I think about where the last several years have gone, I find myself starting to make lists of what I still want to accomplish on a personal level. I want to spend more time with my kids, to volunteer more at my children’s school, to train for a challenging event and to start another business (since selling mine last year). Most of all, I want to take just one minute every day to be thankful and remember how lucky I am to have become a mom.
I’m still planning on making some New Year’s resolutions but the top thing on my list is to simply appreciate all that I have.
What are you thankful for? What is it that you still want to accomplish? As we motor down life’s highway, we all need an occasional reminder to slow down and consider where we have been and where we are going. Use this post as the impetus to step back and look at all you and your family have accomplished over the past year. Think about what you would like to do to make 2014 even better, and take action to create the future you want!
