Well, here we are! It’s a new year, but it’s the same ol’ me…and I think I’m okay with that. We have spent our lives doing the whole “new year, new me” and diving into the new year like a cannonball firing from a ship at an unsuspecting target. To be honest, it hasn’t done much for me other than cause anxiety and give myself unattainable goals for the new year. This year, I want to quietly tiptoe into the new year and be sure not to spook it…maybe it will be kind to me.
The last few years have been rough.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like more and more people are facing some rough times in recent years. It’s not that any one year has been bad per se, but the years have just been heavy! So this year there is no new year’s resolution; there is no new year, new me; there is no bouncing into 2026 like Tigger bouncing onto Pooh bear. It’s just me being real and praying this year is kinder than the past few have been.
Now don’t get me wrong; the past year wasn’t all bad. It definitely had its high points, but at this point, I would prefer a gently used year in mint condition to a brand new year with unknown events to come. Since that isn’t an option, I am taking this opportunity to set myself up for success in 2026.
What does this mean you ask?
Well, first I am not making any unrealistic goals. I will make attainable goals like continuing to meal plan each month. This helps me with grocery planning and makes it so that I don’t have to come up with a meal idea at the end of the day when I am overstimulated and tired. Next, I will do something each week that makes me happy. This is a small goal, like taking time to read, sew, or do any hobby that gives me a little bit of me time and isn’t impossible to accomplish once a week.
I will also try to delegate things when I have stacked my schedule too full which happens often because I am a people-pleaser. In the past, I have made my goal to not be a people-pleaser and fail at that miserably because at heart it makes me happy to make other people happy, so this year I will ask for help with the small things that I usually just do (think having the kids do their dishwasher chore instead of just doing it for them, having everyone pick up a little so I am not the only one doing it, etc.). Additionally, I will complete a bible study every week. Last year, I made a goal to read through the bible, and while I am still working on that, I have found that if I do not have a bible study each week, I can tell a difference in how I feel and how I view situations, so I want to make this a priority for myself. I will continue to learn and grow and change in my parenting, relationships, and in myself as I see fit.
