Happy New Year!

I love that you can keep saying this to people for at least the first two weeks of the new year.  It’s just such a joyous thing to say.  To friends, to family, to strangers… I wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

But with the new year comes all of the resolutions.  I resolve to eat better.  I resolve to work out more.  I resolve to be more organized, to cut back on drinking, or cut out junk food…

Well, I’ve never been one to make resolutions.  I could absolutely be more organized or more in-shape.  I could resolve to take at least one photo every day or write a song every week.  I could resolve to pay off my other credit card (the scary one) or to write a blog every day.

I could resolve to floss.

But I’ve realized that the “resolutions” that I would make are goals that I’ve already set for myself throughout the year.  Although January 1st was a lovely fresh start to what looks to be a very promising year, I am choosing a different kind of “resolution”.

I follow Sarah over at sarah out loud.  We were music majors together at Rollins, and she and her husband recently had a beautiful baby girl.  Sarah made a list of goals for 2013, and at the end mentioned her church asking people to choose a word to meditate on for the year.  Sarah chose joy, which is absolutley perfect for her in her new role as mom.  I know her 2013 will be full of many different instances of joy.

I love this idea.  I have been pondering over a word for myself this year.  And I think I’ve decided on focus.

I have so many projects and roles that I love in my life.  I have the food industry, which I find exciting and spend most of my time working in.  I have my singing, which has taken the back burner these last couple of years even though it is what makes me tick.  I have my blog, which I love writing, sharing, and being creative with.  I am also the wife of an extremely passionate and hard working man and the momma to a kind of needy dog.

This year I am determined to focus on staying focused.  I have these goals that I have set for myself and I tend to get distracted and frustrated trying to do everything and be everything at once.  I have found that when I slow down and set aside time to dedicate to just one of those projects at a time, I do my best work and I am more satisfied with my time spent.

Focus to me is also about determining which projects and roles in my life I need to make more time for and concentrate on.  I can’t be everything all at once, but I can focus my energy on the things that make my life feel fulfilled.  Maybe it’s time to back off a bit on certain projects and really work to make music a bigger part of my life again.  (Did I say maybe?  I meant definitely.)  Maybe it’s time to back off so much on helping others and take a little more time to focus on my future and my career.

So yes, I have a lot of goals and expectations for 2013.  But ultimately, this year will be the year when I concentrate on taking a deep breath, slowing down, and focusing on doing the best I can at whatever it is I am doing at that moment.  2013 will be a year for clarity, where I better define who I am and what I do.

Focus.

xoxo