I generally never discuss “resolutions” as far as annual ones go since I firmly believe we should be trying to improve ourselves every day of the year. Saving up self improvement to only restart on the first of the year is self-defeating and lazy. So, I don’t do resolutions. However, I am a huge proponent of physical to-do lists. Not honey-do lists. I don’t boss my husband around. My lists are just for me as an attempt to keep organized and decrease our stress as a family as much as possible. I used to have long lists compiled of sheets of paper and would cross things off and re-write lists as needed. Once I got my very first cell phone at age 30 (I know, crazy), I started keeping the lists on my mobile since it was easier to edit them or add to them as an idea crossed my mind.
Since my list of goals for this year have some pretty heavy items (save money, begin house hunting, improve my business, potty training, searching for preschools) I thought I better re-evaluate how well I did at hitting my goals in previous years. It wasn’t pretty. Sure, I accomplished a lot, but it is much easier to focus on our failings rather than our successes, right? I have to admit, it feels like I have never completed a to-do list. Granted the lists are not static. I add to them almost daily so that I can remember important activities and chores, but every year, daily life definitely gets in the way of larger goals. I know this is normal and it can be healthy to always strive for more than is realistically possible to accomplish, but it still can be a let down.
I am actually kind of irritated with myself for my bummed out feelings of failure. In three years I have had back to back pregnancies, started a business, moved apartments twice, improved my marriage, and went thorough hundreds of days of great personal growth. Why is that not enough? Why can I not be proud of that and only focus on the shortcomings? Is this just human nature? Or perhaps a cultural thing? I know my husband occasionally has these thoughts, but they do not seems to envelope him as much as they do me.
I am thinking a new item to add to my long term to-do list is to celebrate our triumphs more and not let the shortcomings get to me as much. Life is short and for the most part I do whatever I can to make sure our family is enjoying our short time on this Earth. Perhaps instead of constantly looking for the next task to finish, it might be better for us to simply BE and ENJOY more.
Are you a list maker? Do you ever find it inhibiting your ability to just let go and live sometimes?
I’m definitely a list maker, but it gets depressing because I don’t finish the lists. 🙁
Completely depressing. My weekly chore list is always ooooohhhh about a week behind. Having mama brain from kids not sleeping through the night doesn’t help either. Sometimes I think i need to tape the list to my forehead.