This card by Emily McDowell made me laugh… isn’t it true how we can mess up our well-intended New Year’s resolutions seemingly before we can even make them? The last few years, I’ve come up with “words” that define my goals for the coming year. Though the tradition has served me well, this year I’ve been challenging myself to delve a little deeper and really think about how I want to grow in 2013. I just started reading The Happiness Project. Have y’all read it? So good and incredibly apropos for this month of fresh starts. Anyway, I was completely drawn in by the very first line which states: I’d always vaguely expected to outgrow my limitations. One day, I’d stop twisting my hair, and wearing running shoes all the time, and eating exactly the same food every day. I’d remember my friends’ birthdays, I’d learn Photoshop…I’d spend more time laughing and having fun, I’d be more polite, I’d visit museums more often…
Does this tendency to approach life like a dress rehearsal really resonate with anyone else? It got me thinking about the importance of waking up every morning in full comprehension that I’m living my story right now, so I better make sure I’m living it like the person I want to be! Becoming a mom has added another layer of meaning, since it seems like Phoebe’s milestones seem to fly by faster than I can keep up. This is her only childhood right now, and one of my greatest fears is that I’ll let the petty circumstances of day-to-day life overshadow what really matters, and then poof! She’ll be all grown up.
I’ll probably come up with a few actual resolutions this year (try out a new recipe every week, floss, etc.) but for today, I want to practice savoring the present moment, approaching life with a spirit of gratitude and thinking about my real intentions for 2013. A few quotes that I’m reading and re-reading today…
Are you guys making resolutions this year? I’d love to hear about ways that you embrace every day and live with intention!
*images: Be Yourself: Emily McDowell, Be Kind by Simon Walker, Let Your Light: Megan Murdock, Red Lipstick: Emily McCarthy.
Love this! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and some great quips. Happy New Year!
Woody Allen always seems to have the right words to keep me pushing forward. Happy 2013!
He always manages to make me laugh AND think at the same time!
I love this! I’ve never thought about living life as a dress rehearsal before, but wow, I definitely relate sometimes. Cheers to being more present and intentional in 2013!
Absolutely – I think it’s something we’re all guilty of from time to time. Just being more aware of the present will be big progress!
Great post, Camille! You mentioned my all-time favorite line: “Life isn’t a dress rehearsal – we only get one shot!” So true about being present – it’s tough to do, but hopefully we’ll all remind ourselves to strive for this daily. Hope 2013 brings you even more innovation & excitement than you even dreamed of!
This is great, and so true! I know I always have extremely high hopes for the new year, and I want to start everything perfectly and new, but that never happens. Oh well, here’s to 2013!
I read The Happiness Project awhile ago and found it incredibly inspiring. I loved her little tips, like waking up and starting the day with intention and taking a few minutes before you go to bed to tidy up your bedroom and other areas. I feel like I need to run through the book again to look at all my highlighted notes. Such wonderful inspiration for the new year.
Cheers, Elizabeth of The Corner Apartment
Thanks Elizabeth – I agree, I feel like I need to make little sticky notes of my highlighted notes and put them up around the house as constant reminders!
Happy New Year! You have given us some great food for thought and some terrific quotes as well.
My all-time favorite (and it is timely for the start of a new year) is “Never confuse movement with action”! (i added the exclamation point
SUCH a great post! Love the quotes…sometimes it’s nice to have a little reminder every now and then. For 2013, I’ve made a promise to myself to create something every day. peopleandplacesandthings.com/2013/01/01/2013-the-year-of-creativity/
a wonderfully inspiring post! thank you! xo
Thanks for posting this! I read the Happiness Project a few months ago, and completly agree. We are living our stories now and sometimes its hard to wake up and remember that. Another book I would suggest is called Cold Tangerines, and has some similar thoughts about life and living each day. Happy New Year!
Instead of doing a huge list that seems to get shuffled away in project papers, I decided to just go with a declarative sentence this year, “I will be better at……(insert every single thing I’m doing right here including mundane things like kitchen cleaning and necessary errands).”
Your blog is a ray of sunshine. Well done, pretty lady. Because of you, I rocked a top knot in Paris over Christmas and congratulated myself for “mixing it up.”
Happy New Year.
Love these. I think my motto is to “let go.” of stuff, of grudges, of excess weight, of just things that just keep me from moving forward.
Happy New Year Camille! I don’t make resolutions much but I do love a fresh start. I read The Happiness Project last year and loved it. In fact, I was just telling my husband tonight that I was going to assign each room in our house a month to be cleaned out and organized! We’ll see how successful I am at that project. xo
I love looking at your posts! Such beautiful things! I’m not making a resolution, just a dedication to my lifestyle. A fellow blogger and I are promoting a challenge for January to be healthy. #30dayhomies
http://www.shecookscraftsruns.net/p/30dayhomies.html
Happy New Year to you! I just finished writing a blog post (www.twinstripe.com/blog) about new year’s intentions as well. I am throwing “resolutions” out the window and in with intentions!
Beautiful post Camille and all so true. Happy New Year and Best wishes on a year of good health, happiness, peace, success and prosperity xoxo
Totally loved this post…the best New Year’s one I’ve read actually…
Thanks for all the inspiration, you are one gorgeous person!
xoxo
ps will so be getting that book, love that quote.
I love this post. Great things to keep in mind going into the new year. I think I pinned them all.
Also, I have to say, I laughed at Emily’s 2013 one, too!
Happy New Year!
Fabulous post to start the New Year. I am inspired. I am with Katie I through resolutions out the window last year. For the 2nd year I adapted a mantra for the year To look head and be proactive instead of reactive. I am so excited for us all this year. Happy New Year Camille Styles Team!