Thursday, August 30, 2012

Revisiting Resolutions


For those of us here in New York, school starts again, two days after Labor Day, ushering in the "unofficial" end of summer.

To me, the end of summer, and the beginning of the school year, has always been a time for new beginnings. It just makes sense to me. Summer vacation is over. Kids are back in school. New routines begin. Schedules are quickly filled. It seems that it's always been the time that I get back to my healthy eating plan, after all of those picnics with ice cream afterwards. It's the time I begin to clean out and straighten up all of the chaos that has accumulated over the summer, due to my "hey, it's summer, I'll get to it later" mentality. And this year, the end of summer happens to be a time that I'm revisiting my New Year's resolution list.

Just a few evenings ago I was going through some of my files and I ran across a short blog entry that I had posted on my personal blog on New Year's Day. It listed my resolutions for the new year. There weren't many. I've learned with age to be more realistic, to choose more carefully, and to pick resolutions that will make me a better person - not necessarily just a thinner person. :)

So what were my resolutions and how have I done with them, now almost nine months after I put them to paper? (or blog)

First - Positivity. This year I resolved to be more positive. Being a worrier it is sometimes difficult for me to remain positive. I am grateful each day for what I have, but I tend to let negative thoughts take over. It's even more difficult when things aren't necessarily going the way we think that they should.  How have I done? I would say that I've improved, which of course, is always a good thing. But I do realize that I have a ways to go. And since we're all in a school frame of mind at this point, I guess I would give myself a "B." Oh, what the heck, maybe even a "B+."

I found a blog on this very subject - positivity.  If you get a chance, check it out here. The blog creator, Dani, says "Life is best lived, right now, in the present, with a positive attitude. Be positive and be present." Easier said than done, but oh such good advice. I'm very glad to be reminded that I need to work on this a bit more...

Second - Patience. What can I say? I need more of it. Some days I feel like a Saint. Taking everything in stride, blowing off those annoying things. But other days, many days, I have very little patience. I don't like that about myself at all.  And seeing my old blog post has reminded me that I still have a very long way to go with this resolution. Gee, I'll have to see if there's a blog about this subject too! Or maybe I should actually crack the book that is shown in my photo above, The Power of Patience. Yes, I'm a little ashamed to say that I haven't even opened it since I purchased it in January. For this resolution I must give myself a "C-."  Much improvement needed in the next few months.


Third - Creativity. My third and final resolution was to allow my creativity to be more of an important part of my life. As someone who can't knit, sew, crochet, paint, or draw - my creativity is my photography. Part of my resolution was to "have my camera in my hand every day." To continue to learn and improve my photography, and to allow myself the time necessary to get immersed in it.

I must say, I would give myself an "A" for this one. As you can see in my photo, I have many photography books (this is just the tip of the iceberg shown here). And, unlike the other books, I have actually opened and read each and every one of these. And enjoyed them! Of course, the wine certainly helps with that too!

I have taken several photography classes, begun a 365 project, become a member of this wonderful blog, and continue to grow my personal photography blog.

So, I haven't really done perfectly in reaching all of my goals. But in keeping with the "trying to remain positive theme", I remember that today is a new day. A day to renew and begin again. I'm very glad that I ran across my old blog post. I'm glad to be reminded of what I had hoped to achieve this year. I have some work to do, but I know I'm on the right track.

January 1st is not the only time for fresh starts. If you've made resolutions and have slipped up, make a fresh start again. Today. If you've meant to start something new this year, but haven't yet, start today!

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Carl Bard




P.S. Just one more day of our Barn theme. I'm going to miss seeing all of those beautiful barn photos coming in to our flickr group. But September's theme will be just as fun, so stay tuned! And be sure to check out our blog on Sunday this week as well, when Linda will be concluding the linky party that has been going on all this week. If you haven't joined in yet, please do! You have until midnight on September 1st to post your photo for everyone to guess "your story."

21 comments:

AFishGirl said...

Wonderful. Very inspiring post. Just love that shot of the wine and books and your camera. Happy new year to you as we move on into this next phase of the year.

Dotti said...

Judy, I have to totally agree: September and the start of the school year truly represent a "new year" to me. It's a cultural thing, I think. We begin school at an early age, our kids go to school in September then our grans. I even worked at an academic institution for many years, so, yes, the beginning of an academic year/September/fall ... this marks my own personal "new year". Besides, my husband and I met in September ... I won't tell you how many years ago ... and that really was a new beginning! :-D

PS - Don't be too hard on yourself with your "resolutions" - I know I,for one, am right there with you, some good, some not so good.

xo

Kim Stevens said...

Yes, the starting of a new school year does bring new beginnings. For me personally, I don't do so well with resolutions...they always bring some kind of failure. I like to think of it as each new day is a continuing adventure, some are just better than others. Although with this week being our start of the new school year, I'm already not feeling like I'm doing very well! ; ) We have only had one night at home this week...

terriporter said...

I think it's wonderful that you went back and revisited your resolutions and evaluated how you are doing. So many people make them and then forget them until the New Year rolls around again. I also need to work on positivity and patience but I am doing better in the creativity department as well. I do like Kim's idea of not making resolutions but in thinking of each day as a brand new start. And, as you said, each day is an opportunity to begin again. Think I'll go clean out those closets now!

Deanna said...

What a wonderful post Judy. Re-visiting and beginning anew happens to each of us. We begin anew with each new day, but the start of a new school year always brings that feeling of starting over. Positivity is so easy to achieve when things are going right, it's when things begin to go not so right is that true test. And I fail at that miserably. Your post is a great reminder to us all to think positively, be more patient and practice our creativity. I just wrote a post today on creativity...find it here http://deannaswauger.blogspot.com/2012/08/we-are-all-creative.html

radish38 said...

This is right on for the moment. My resolution for the summer was to relax and get through it, which I pretty much did. But I did let the garden go. September is a wonderful time of rethinking, planning, and actual follow through.

Claudia said...

Judy, what a grand post! Some of my most wonderful memories were the days of school new and fresh! I loved seeing how my kids changed from year to year... but I also took the time to refresh me! It was some time to work on those "issues" and I love how you have revisted your specific goals and grade yourself.

Continue to be kind, you are a rock star in my eyes. You are doing it all and doing it well. You are always an inspiration to me.

Hugs
C

gina said...

What a good idea to revisit resolutions! Having been a teacher for many years, September was always the beginning of a new year for me -- so exciting (and stressful to be truthful) to start fresh with a new group of students. It's still a time for change and refocusing for me. I think I'll review my resolutions too.

GailO said...

I have always thought that the Jewish religion had the New Year right as it is celebrated in September. It just seems natural having grown up with school starting then and it looks like many of us feel the same way:)

Congratulations on the progress you have made in all your resolutions Judy! I think my Sept resolution will be to try to be more active here:)

heyjudephotography said...

Why thank you Gail! Good to see you here again, and I love your September resolution! We look forward to "seeing' you here often!

heyjudephotography said...

I agree! I really am glad that I came across my resolution list when I did. "Refocusing." Yes, good word Gina. I will be refocusing too!

heyjudephotography said...

Thanks for all of your kind words Claudia! I really appreciate them.

Cathy H. said...

Judy, you seemed to have done well with your resolutions! Keeping up with resultion to be more creative certainly helps the positive attitude! At least it does for me! Being creative brings me the most joy! I'm looking forward to September, with it's cooler weather, to jump start my creativity which kind of melted in the heat!!

heyjudephotography said...

Like Cathy wrote below, practicing our creativity definitely helps with the positive attitude too! I will be sure to check our your blog today, as I do often, to read your post on creativity.

heyjudephotography said...

Haha! Surely those closets can wait till at least October! :) I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one trying to work on my patience and positive attitude. I feel I'm in good company!

heyjudephotography said...

Stay positive Kim! With all the busy schedules of school and after school "stuff" it's easy to feel like we're just not "doing it." Like you yourself said, one day at a time. One day at a time. :)

heyjudephotography said...

Yes, all those reasons definitely lean toward a "new year!" I am in good, good company here! :)

heyjudephotography said...

And Happy "New Year" (new phase) to you too Pam. Thanks for your kind words.

Carol said...

This is such a great way to frame all that you are doing. For me it's the cool weather. Although we have not been in Terri's boat, the heat has jst killed all ambition! We had ONE nice cool weekend last weekend, and I painted a room, printed and framed (finally ) some of my pictures, and walked every day. That's the most mobement I've had since May! Happy New Time to you and congrats on your job being well done!

Linda said...

New Years resolutions! We make them with such grand intentions then forget then so quickly! I love that you suggest September as a new beginning instead of January. There's so much pressure about resolutions in January!
Yours are great! Blogging about them was a good idea too. It is good to go back and see where we were when we made our resolutions! Great post!

xo,
Linda

terriporter said...

You're so right, Carol! The heat can really take all the ambition right out of you! I'm looking forward (waaay forward, unfortunately) to cooler weather.

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. If for any reason you are unable to leave a comment here on this post, please leave your comment on our Facebook page or in our Flickr discussion group. We love hearing from you!

 
© Focusing On Life