baby steps to habits

It has been awhile, I realize, since I posted here at Soul of the Home.  I am really enjoying the little project of a blog I have started at small beauties;  the hard part is remembering to capture images each day, but I am always so glad when I do.  I have also been working on another little blog, quietly, which I may or may not share, but it all has to do with a journey to joy that I am taking right now. 

Alas, I have moved away from my purpose in posting tonight.  Already a full week of this new year has passed and I am still thinking about resolutions for myself.  Resolutions is the wrong word, though.  Goals?  No, too academic or corporate sounding.  Habits.  Yes, new habits I would like to practice and master during the coming months.  There are so many, though, and I know I would be defeated immediately if I attempted even a fraction of them all at once.  And yet, it is easy to forget about little promises and disciplines when one has an entire year to contemplate and take action.  So, I am going to work in terms of weeks at a time rather than months.  Concretely.  Concrete steps are so important to realistically improving oneself.

Here are a dozen of the habits I am considering for the upcoming weeks and months:

• get outdoors daily and substantially
  
• too bed earlier
• tidy as we go
• host small dinner parties monthly
• return to the local/sustainable eating track we'd started
• create with my children daily
• pray without ceasing
• make music daily
• smile much more
• consistent meal planning
• allow margin::don't be late. ever.
• give up complaining...mentally and verbally.  Seriously.

I'll return to this list throughout the year, tweak it as necessary, and try to hold myself accountable in this public space.  As I look at the list, I find it so hard not to just tackle it all at once, but I resigned from Over-Achiever last year and promoted myself to Achiever in Training.  As in, really do something well and to its completion and with full presence of mind.  So much more challenging than spreading oneself to thin and using busy-ness as an excuse to come up short.  

Back tomorrow to begin the 2010 Habits.