Jesus, Yoga, and the Internet

It took a while. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it. I got upset, frustrated, even thought about giving up. But that just wouldn't be me. Good news for the universe, I finally figured about my New Year's Resolutions for 2014!!

I am kind of a New Year's Resolution person. I make them every year. It's actually how this blog got started. I know there are New Year's Resolution nay-sayers out there. "Why wait until January to make yourself a better person? New Year's Resolutions are made to be broken!" etc etc etc.

If I was the type of person who made flippant resolutions, I would agree with all this. But most years I I start thinking of my resolutions months before the new year and here is why. I am trying to constantly better myself. I don't need a resolution for that. My New Year's Resolutions don't tend to make me a 'better' person, but a happier person. I have noticed a theme in my New Year's Resolutions. They are all about me. I know, I know...that makes me seems self centered, BUT, when I made a New Year's Resolution that involved someone else reaping the benefits, I didn't keep it. These resolutions have to be about what I need in my life, and I would argue that when I am a happier person, I tend to be a 'better' person.

For example, I made a resolution last year that I really didn't want to keep. I thought I needed to keep it to be a better person, but I didn't want to do it. It didn't bring me joy. I didn't look forward to it. It was an obligation; just one more thing I had to do in my already exhaustingly busy week. You all are smart people (or you wouldn't be my friends...) and can figure out, I didn't keep that resolution. I tried it once a week for about a month and then let it slide.

But there was one resolution I did keep last year and guess what - it was something I WANTED to do! It made me happy. I looked forward to it. I mentioned in my blog last year I was working on relationships. Before kids John and I would have people over to the house constantly. I loved opening our home to our friends. Well, after kids it just became more difficult, as things tend to do after kids. But now that our kids are a little older and we have made friends with people who have kids our age, I wanted to get back into the habit of inviting people over. Entertaining sounds so fancy and we are not fancy people. I like to call it 'get togethers'. So one of my resolutions last year was to invite people over at least once a month. Sometimes I would cook, sometimes it was potluck, and sometimes it was just pizza, but at least once a month our house was full of friends and loved ones. It's great to get back into a habit that I once loved.

That New Year's resolution was for me. I wanted to have friends over. I wanted my kids to grow up with friends and family in the house all the time. I wanted adult conversation in my weekend!! So I kept it. I loved keeping it. I looked forward to my 'have people over' time each month and so did my kids. Funny story - I was picking up some toys last night and Evan said, "Who is coming over?". Not sure if that's a sign he is used to people coming over or me just cleaning our house when people are coming over. ha!

When I finally figured out that my resolutions needed to make me a happy person, not so much a 'better' person, they came to be very quickly.

1. Jesus - As you know John and I are deeply involved in our church, The Stirring at Hope Presbyterian. John is an elder and plays in The Stirring Band and I am on the leadership team and play the important second role of Chermanda when needed for announcements. Jesus is my guru, my homeboy, my BFF and I need to get into His Word in the worst kind of way.

The Stirring Leadership Team Christmas 2013 - minus a few critical people!

 

Jesus and I talk ALL.DAY.LONG. But usually that involves a lot of talking from me and a lot of listening from Him. When I realized this pattern wasn't the healthiest, I decided I need to dive into His word to open my ears a little wider and close my mouth a little tighter. This year I want to spend at least once a week in a true study of God's Word. This may be me and the bible. This might be me an a devotional. I am still researching what would make this the most beneficial for our relationship. (I would LOVE any suggestions on devotionals in the comments section! I do best with a journalling type study.)

2. Yoga - If you follow this blog at all, you might remember I have gotten into yoga in the past six months. So much so that I even created a yoga instagram account.

I have gotten some flack, but a lot of support, about this account. Yes, it's open, not private. Yes, anyone in the world can see my yoga pictures. Yes, there have been a couple of nasty comments that I immediately delete. But I have a good reason to keep it open. The yoga community on instagram is huge. Like...huge. I have learned so much from these yogis and been able to gain so much inspiration and encouragement from these strangers that I feel it has been one of the major reasons my practice has grown as much as it has. So in 2014, I would like to keep my yoga instagram account active which means participating in challenges (I am shooting for one a month), posting progression shots and even diving into posting video of different flows. I am super excited to see where my practice is in December!!

3. The Interwebz - I did really good that first year of blogging, but then I slacked on the good ole Goldfish for Dinner last year. I only wrote 45 posts and 11 of them were in the last month. This is my kids' baby book. These are my family memories, my favorite pictures, my favorite stories, the funny things that my kids say and do. I can't trust my brain to keep all of this information. I find myself thumbing through my book I published last year all the time. I just ordered by 2013 book! I want...no need this blog to document all the amazing things that go on around me day in and day out so when these boys are frustrating teenagers, I can look back and remember how hard I thought I had it. ;) My goal, once again, is to write 52 posts this year. Average of one a week.

So welcome 2014!! I am excited your here and can't wait to see what you have in store for the Asbells!