WOW! It's been too long, again...I annoy myself when I let this sit and don't do anything with it....there have been several topics enter my head over the past few months, but honestly who had the time?!?! Which is where I intend on going with this....
How was your Thanksgiving? How was your Christmas? How was your New Year's? Can you believe all of those holidays are G-O-N-E?!?! It was like December 26th hit and the air deflated from that magical holiday ride I had been riding for a while....DONE, RIDE OVER, EXIT TO THE LEFT! Next stop 2016!
All the hard work (well it felt like hard work to me)..... was over so quickly and what did you get out of it.....I was a little mad at myself because I felt like I was just constantly marking things off of the endless list and now that list is trash :( Christmas cards-check, gift buying-check, gift wrapping-check, teacher gifts-check, student gifts-check, meal planning and preparing-check, cleaning the kitchen 110 times-check, oh and lets not forget decorating-check! The week of Christmas we hosted 3 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 5 dinners and 1 dessert gathering....it was exhausting and its GONE, just like that....the only things that remain are leftovers in my fridge that need to be ditched!
I am kind of sad because now that we enter that January/awkward stage.....the month that takes forever, you don't know how the weather will be from one day to the next, we must go back to routine, rip down all the glitter and trash it month, its just simply not a fun month...I already told Brooks I will be stir crazy by the middle....such an exhausting few months to NOTHING, I just dont transition well......
So with all this new "free" time on my hands I have been pondering the so called New Years Resolution.....I am not big on making these beginning of the year promises...I feel like its good to always have a goal, but I don't think you can only start that at the beginning of the year....but I do however have a goal to focus on.....its called......intentional....
Yeah I sent those 90+ Christmas cards and bought and wrapped several gifts, why, because its what you do.....don't get me wrong there were a few gifts that I was excited to give, but then others were just things to wrap because its hard to buy something for certain people that have everything (thanks Judy & Fred...although I was proud of mothers baking pans)......
intentional = done on purpose or deliberate....
it is really easy to do intentional things negatively, but I am going to do intentional things for the opposite - positively!
So anyways my "goal": intentional....lately, I have tried to reflect after situations to try and think of ways that I could have handled them differently and ways to be more intentional and not do things just because.....prime example: I always ask "how are you" but I am pretty guilty of not really listening to your answer because in my head theres 228 things going on (sorry for this). Over the past few months someone could have probably said I am fine, I just won the lottery and I wouldnt have heard them (congrats, if I missed this)....I know this is a huge one for me....if you talk to me during one of Bryson's soccer games, I can pinky promise I am not hearing a word you are saying (sorry soccer family).....another example, I am AWFUL at communicating on social media or when people want to have small talk.....I can post a million pics about my kids, but I am very rude when it comes to returning the love or even answering questions or saying thanks for the sweet comments....for the past several weeks I have not been intentional about tracking the calories I have CONSUMED (actually its not happened since the week of Thanksgiving).....and I have intentionally neglected working out because why should I....I have TOO much to do!
I am pretty guilty of intentionally ignoring several things in my life.....so when this word: intentional came to mind over and over, over the weekend I figured it would be a great start to the "new year" to work towards being more INTENTIONAL in everything I do.....I will intentionally listen more intently when I ask "how are you", I will intentionally try to show more appreciation whether it be on social media or in person as comments and compliments are always appreciated, I just dont intentionally always acknowledge..... TODAY I was very intentional about putting my calories in every time I ate and I have intentionally set a running goal for the week and written it in my calendar because lets face it, I truly function at my best with a to-do list and scheduled events on my calendar....{as you see I am not making a promise to pay full attention during soccer games, I just cant promise something, I know I cant keep....if you have seen me at soccer this makes sense to you and I better throw in during panthers football games too (thats consumed some of my attention lately as well)}
So if you notice me not paying full attention to a certain situation, intentionally being rude and/or not being intentional in things I do, just simply say intentional.....and you will have my full INTENTIONAL attention!! You never know when one small intention could change someones whole day.....
I do truly hope that you and your families had a great, safe, fun, memory making holiday season! thoughts and prayers continue for several families out there that had a holiday that they didnt plan on.....please continue to think of the Pardue and Sellers families and 2 sweet boys both by the name of Ethan.....
Much Love (intentionally), Alysha
