My 2014 Resolutions: Did I Realize Them?

In preparation for setting my 2015 goals, I went back through my 2014 New Year's Resolutions this past week. Here they were:

1. Pray more. We have done a good job this year of attending Mass more regularly, but praying, remembering why I am here, who I am, and living my life more christian every day is something I want to focus on.
2. Keep running. It is hard- especially this winter when I have to run on the "dreadmill" at the gym most of the time, but I really like running (well- outdoors that is!). I feel great when I do it, and it has shown me that I am stronger than I could have ever thought possible. Running that half marathon, all 13.1 miles with an average speed of 9:01 minute miles, in 14 degree weather, well that was something I never imagined I could do.
3. Save more money. Well obviously, not sure if I know anyone who wouldn't like to save more money, but this is a goal I would really like to accomplish. I don't have a set monetary amount, but I'd like to save more. Hopefully as the year progresses and our daycare and health insurance expenses slowly become more reasonable, saving more money will be possible.
4. Go to Jamaica for our 10 year wedding anniversary. We are planning a little vacation in August. Oh boy do we need a vacation. Eight months and counting...
5. This really should be number one. STOP YELLING at my kids. I have not done very good so far (in my defense the first 5 days of 2014 have come after over two weeks of being home with all three kids all day!) but I am working on it.


Okay. So how'd I do?

Pray More. I am actually a little sad to see this on my list, partly because I didn't accomplish this goal, and partly because I forgot to avidly work on it. I prayed this year, but I didn't pray more. I definitely know I need to spend more time with God, and I think about this a lot, but this is a goal I need to make a priority. Sadly, I find that I mostly seek out God when I am in strife, or worried, or sad, and not when I am just hanging out or when good things happen to me. I need to remember that God is the reason I am here. With Him, all things are possible, and He is my support through the good and the bad.

Keep Running. Okay, so this one makes me smile! YES! I have continued to run, run, run and run even more. I ran beyond my wildest dreams. I COMPLETED MY FIRST MARATHON! Notice that I said "my first" marathon, and not "a marathon?" Why is that important? Because there will be more. Maybe not this year, but I will do it again. Privately, I have a future goal of running a marathon in under 4 hours, and I think I can do it. I ran my first marathon very conservatively at 4:19 (4:10 had been my goal), and had more energy at the end than I had anticipated. I believe I can do this, and I will. It is kind of funny that when I wrote this goal a year ago, I hadn't even considered running a full marathon yet. Not even in the slightest. It took me another 4 months into the year, and another half marathon later, before running a full even crossed my mind as something I wanted to do. A reminder that life is amazingly unpredictable.

Save More Money. Disappointed again. I have saved less money than last year. I am in less debt than I was a year ago, but I have saved less. I guess it is a trade off, but it still saddens me. This is not a resolution goal for 2015, but something I need to keep working toward accomplishing.

Go to Jamaica for our 10 Year Anniversary. And it was beautiful! It took lots of planning (and could be the reason I didn't save as much money as I wanted to!) but it happened. My husband and I went to Jamaica, to the exact resort we were married at, and we were there on the exact day of our 10 year wedding anniversary. We were there 6 days, 5 nights, and it was spectacular.

STOP YELLING at my Kids. Okay, in my defense, "stop" was probably the wrong word to use. I have constantly tried to yell less often and choose my battles more wisely, but I haven't stopped. I still feel like this goal was accomplished though because I have altered the pattern. I remember when I wrote this goal I had had a really hard couple of years of choosing to yell rather than being patient and instead help the kids to work out their frustration with calm words and describing emotions. This past year, I improved immensely, so I chalk this one up as a success.

Well, in the end it looks like I met three of my five 2014 New Year's Resolutions. Two I am still working, but I feel good about what I accomplished. Last week I tentatively posted my 2015 New Year resolution goals. In consideration of my 2014 goals, with finality, here they are for 2015:

1. Run at least 15 miles per week.  This will help me train for back-to-back half marathons (the I 35 Challenge) that I intend to run in the fall (which is another goal I have).

2. Complete the I 35 Challenge.

3. Eat lower carbohydrate until at least spring break, hopefully making this change a life choice.

4. Less mindless, time draining, useless playing on my phone. This means NO HIT IT RICH SLOTS application playing (until after Lent). Free spins only :).

5. Pray more. I believe it important I focus on this one again.

This year I hope to periodically review these goals and let readers know how I am doing. Accountability is everything, they say.

Some people don't believe in resolutions, but I think that the word resolution, to those people, is just semantics. Resolutions are goals, and who doesn't set goals to some degree? The beginning of a new year is a good time to reexamine your life and decide to make a change or two. Have you set your goals? It isn't too late...