Every year I try to think of my New Year's Resolutions. Most of the time they include losing weight. Whose one doesn't? What is on your list this year? Mine is below :)
LOSE WEIGHT
Last few years my motivation has been the Guild of Photographers Awards night at the beginning of February as I want to look amazing. This did not go great last year as I cut out all alcohol - Dry January :D and dieting. Then on the night I had a few glasses of wine and felt the effects rather strongly :D This year I have a killer dress to wear but shall not be embarking on a crazy diet or cutting out the odd glass of wine or Gin and Tonic. Instead I spend part of my evening on the exercise bike. Since I got a fitbit in December I have found out that my previous efforts needed to double to actually achieve cardio level. I thought I was doing great, 20-30 minutes of gentle pedalling whilst watching TV was great, but not much was happening after 2 months. With the fitbit making me realise that to achieve carido level I have to work so hard that I am sweating and wanting to give up after 5 minutes :) I shall persevere and I am really hoping the results will show themselves soon. Preferably by the start of February :D
BE A BETTER MUM
Every year, well actually every night, I think to myself: I should be a better mum to my kids. I lose my cool too quickly, I am not patient enough, I don't praise them enough, I don't do enough fun things with them, I don't spend enough time with them. And every morning this lasts about 10 minutes before the older two start bickering over anything and everything My work emails and messages arrive, youngest decides that she will not get dressed, not have breakfast and not go in the car or buggy. Then we usually spend time looking for things that are needed for school (nobody thought to mention them the night before) and by 9am I feel like I have done at least 5 rounds with Mike Tyson. I want to spend time with the kids and see their happy faces. Take them out for walks and let them get messy, see their red cheeks and muddy knees. I want them to see that I can be fun and I do indeed have a sense of humour (which surprised my 12 year old recently :D) But most of the time, I feel I should be spending more time with the kids while I am working and feeling I should be getting on with work while I am spending time with the kids.
BE A BETTER FRIEND
I don't spend enough time with my friends. I would love to, but there just never seems to be enough time to catch up, to actually arrange a time and meet up. Something usually crops up, the kids get ill, work deadlines, a session I need to fit in. Before I know it months have gone by and I have not seen the friend whom I wanted to catch up with so much. And sometimes it is not even something that crops up, it is just that by the end of the day I just have no energy to do anything. I'd like to change that.
All these are great resolutions BUT I have decided that this year I will only have ONE resolution. And funny enough, I am hoping that it will help with all the above. The one and only resolution I have this year is :
BE KINDER
Whilst being kind to others is great, I am not talking about that. I am talking about being kinder to myself.
Being a mum to 3 kids is a job in itself. Running your own business is another full time job. Add in running the house and trying to be a good mum, wife, housekeeper and photographer, those are all pretty full time jobs. Juggling all of them can get on top of you. You start to beat yourself up that you are not great at all of them.
So instead of thinking I need to lose weight, I will be kind to myself and accept that my body carried 3 children and will probably never look great in a bikini again. I will exercise but only because I want to look and feel good, not because I think I should. I will also most definitely NOT cut out a glass of G&T that is usually needed after surviving a whole day with my little three monkeys.
I will stop beating myself up over trying to be a better mum. I am doing the best I can and I love all three of my children. They are fed, clean (most of the time) and loved. That is all any child needs, isn't it? I will try to spend more time with them but I will also re-read research suggesting that leaving your kids to be bored and find their own entertainment is actually really good for them. For their brain development and their creativity. (I will just have to accept that sometimes this creativity translates into a very messy house and in the case of the 2 year old some rather interestingly decorated walls :) )
I won't try to have the perfect house. We live here. It is not dirty but the mess is inevitable and if a friend pops in unannounced hopefully they have come to see me and not judge if the house is tidy :)
I will also be a nicer boss to myself. I always try to give my customers the best experience I can (and I intend to continue that) but maybe I will make my turnaround time a little bit longer so I am not working every night and can catch up with a friend. I will make sure I am leaving enough family time to spend with my husband and kids at the weekends and stop worrying about all the work I still have to do. We live in the moment. At the end of the day: Happiness is an inside job and I plan to enjoy every day this year. xoxo
