How Not To Suck In 2014

January 6th, not the best time to start a resolution, but for argument's sake it's a Monday, and there's no better way to start a new routine than on a Monday.
You're probably thinking, "not another one of these resolution things people put online in hopes of being held accountable throughout the year."  I will be honest most of the things I want to change about myself, I will probably start and stop doing at least a dozen times throughout the year because as shocking as it is to me "I'm not perfect." I actually suck at a lot of things.  2013 brought me a ton of highs and few lows.  After a disastrous, yet character defining end to 2012, I almost felt like I was "owed" a good year.  And it was a great year by all accounts.  I shudder at the usherance of a new one.  Is this another bad year?  Am I on a "you get a good year every other year time table?" The answer obviously eludes me this early on but I do want to work on not trying to predict what God has in store for me.  This is perhaps my biggest resolution and one I make every year...."Alana don't feel guilty every moment.  God is NOT punishing you for a choice or decision you make." This is an ongoing struggle  and one that will probably follow as close to me as my shadow throughout my life.

The usual resolutions await my steadfast and eager attitude six WHOLE days into 2014.  Eat less.  Workout more.  Work less.  Drink more.  Or is it the other way around?  Ah.  Drink less.  Work more.  Work harder.  Drink more water.  Less Coffee (that won't happen).  Remember to cut box tops and Labels for Education for my friend's kids.  When I feel the sting of the knife on my finger while chopping a spaghetti squash, stop pushing down on the knife.  You know, little resolutions like that.

Some things that really need my attention.

Be Kind - This is not something that I generally feel I need to remind myself.  Usually when faced in a scenario I will usually choose kindness......except In traffic.  So this year.  To the guy who blows past me with no turn signal, in 2014 you will no longer be a "F*^$ d*#! With a stick shoved up your a@*!" You will be someone who is in a hurry to tend to your pregnant wife or someone who really has to use the restroom.  I even extend a bit of grace in that case.

Be A Good Friend - I admit.  I am TERRIBLE at this.  God love my friends.  They are patient, kind, a little crazy but the best I could ever ask for.  They forgive me when I say too much.  They stand by me when I don't say quite enough.  They are with me through the "I am not going to make dinner tonight (insert random excuse here)" when in actuality I just want to sit home and be lazy on my couch.  But you know what?  They still are there for an uplifting word or an hour chat where they don't say a thing.  We all have friends like this - the ones we can be completely honest with, the ones we love and who love us right back with all of our eccentricities.

Be Deliberate - Ug.  Do you know what it's like to not be able to make a decision?  It's EXHAUSTING and expensive.  "I don't know what I feel like for dinner, hamburgers or chili?" Hmmm, I will just get both, make both and decide once all the work is over.  "A shirt in red or white or black?  Ug.  Hell, I will just get all three." Not only be deliberate in my decisions but also in other aspects of life.  It may not seem it but I let a lot of other people tell me how to do things and what to do, this is the year that I heed their advice but make my OWN decision.  And if it's wrong?  Well.  That's one of those "well, then you figure it out" moments.

I finally went back to church yesterday for the first time in quite awhile. It was just that feeling that Jesus and I needed to have a chat, a cup of coffee together.  And it was helpful.  I still don't know what He was telling me when I spilled my communion grape juice down the front of my white shirt, let's just call that one TBD.  Or when the pastor said the church wanted to make sure everyone was noticed and the offering basket seemed to completely skip over me.  Don't worry, Randy Scott, I tithed later online.  =)

As I sat there and listened to the prayer "give us the grace to acknowledge the  gaps between our words and our practice.  Lord you did this perfect for each one of us.  Please give me the courage to have the conversations I don't want to have."  I thought about the heartaches, the successes, the failures, the "this is the best ever" moments that await in 2014 and determined above all this year, I strive to treat and love others in a way that extends kindness, compassion and most importantly grace.

So, yeah, be skinny, be clever, rise above and bottoms up!  That sounds like a good plan for 2014!  Cheers my friends!  And mostly thank you for your time every day!