2015: RESOLUTED

This baby has nothing to do with this post, 

but we went swimming yesterday and, gosh, she is just the best.

I love New Year's Resolutions.  I really do.  They're my jam.  The short little nerd inside of me gets all sorts of jazzed up when I think about setting resolutions for the year.  And don't even get me started on writing the goal down and plastering it somewhere in my house.  That's the kind of stuff that will make me pass out with excitement if I'm not careful.  But seriously. I LOVE MAKING RESOLUTIONS.

The problem, of course, always comes in the carrying out of the goals.  Someone somewhere has a magical trick to keeping goals but I do not know what that trick is therefore I do not follow that trick and therefore do not keep a lot of my resolutions.  My year typically goes like this:   I make a lot of goals.  I keep some of them.  I break a lot of them.  (Also can you "break" a goal?  I'm trying to figure out what the right verb would be for that sentence...?)

Two years ago I set these resolutions.  They were some really great goals!  But I was trying to do too many things all at the same time, and I just couldn't keep up.  So I failed at most of them.  A multitasker I am not.

One year ago I was determined to find a more successful way to do resolutions.  The trick, I decided, was to just focus on one goal at a time.  Really hone in on it, you know?  So I set a goal for every month of the year, a la The Happiness Project.  That worked amazing the first four months of the year.  I was on fire! Keeping all my goals!  I felt like a million freaking bucks!

Then May rolled around and life gave us an opportunity to buy a house. But my goal was to save! September I was supposed to exercise every day.  But all I wanted to do was snuggle my baby!  In November I was supposed to cook for my family five times a week but Greg was gone every night for play rehearsal.  It was a bust!  

Turns out goals set in January for ten months down the road aren't always what you want to be doing ten months down the road.  (For the record I still really love this approach to goals, but I think it is intended for a slightly calmer, more stable time of life.)  

I don't know what I should change this year to make my resolutions more successful.  But I have an idea...

I'm only making one resolution.

It can't be that hard to remember to do ONE THING, right?  I therefore present to you, my 2015 resolution:

BE KIND

I have been totally inspired by Lauren Paul's kind campaign.  I follow her on instagram (because it's totally normal to follow not only your favorite actor on social media, but his wife too, right?!?) and when I see her posts about putting good out in there in the world I start to think that I'm not doing my part in putting the kindness out there.  

Not that I think I'm a mean person.  I just maybe am not always a nice person. The "natural Bon" is sassy, critical, easily offended, easily annoyed, judgmental.  And I don't like it when I am those things.  So I am going to stop being those things.

When I started thinking about the goal to "be kind" these last couple of weeks it kind of amazed me at how many things fell under that umbrella.  Goals that I have made before.  Being "kind" is only one goal, yes, but I feel like in my pursuit to achieve it I will reach a mountain of other goals.  Like...

Say thank you more often.  

Forgive easily.  

Give genuine compliments.

Do daily random acts of service, for loved ones and for strangers.  

Say sorry, even when I'm not "wrong".

Be conversational. Ask people questions about their lives.  Show interest.

Be the type of person that makes others feel good about themselves.

Don't get defensive.

Don't snap.

Don't nag.

Be patient.

Give hugs.

Help strangers when it is obvious they need a hand.

Invite people to do things together.

No saying unkind things about people when they are not around.
No saying unkind things about people when they are around.
Tell people how much they mean to me.
Write hand written notes.

There it is folks.  2015 is hereby resoluted!