2016 resolutions

As some of my close friends will know, 2015 was a bit of a difficult year for me. It started off great, but mid-way through the year I lost my job and had a very hard time remaining positive through it all.

Last year, Chris's mom gave us a Mason Jar labeled "2015 Blessings and Gratitudes." It came with slips of paper that we could use to write down things we were thankful for. At first, I was filling out one or more slips every day. I had a fulfilling career, a great relationship, and no real financial strains in my life. It was easy to acknowledge the blessings in my life. Then, after I came back from Europe this Summer without a job and feeling generally pretty worthless. I wasn't filling out many slips of paper.

The other day, Chris and I went through them all and there were hardly any from the second half of the year. Not much else in my life had changed. My income had decreased, I lacked job security, and I had to take on a second job to pick up the slack. True, parts of my life had gotten harder, but through it all is been able to keep my apartment, my car was still running, and the bills were still getting paid. One of my best friends was newly married and had begun building a wonderful life with her husband in their new home. Chris was a continuous source of encouragement and support and made me feel so much better about how life was going. I grew closer to his family throughout the year and good things were happening in my family, too. My brother finished college and got a job. There was still plenty to be thankful for, and noticing those things could only have helped me to feel better about my life, but I choose to focus on the negative.

My goal this year is to work on making the changes I can and to focus on things I can control. I want to be happy and healthy, and I want to make a positive impact on the world around me. In addition to changing my diet and exercise habits and to volunteering my time for causes I believe in, this will also require me to focus on the elements of my life that are good and wonderful. 

So I'm resurrecting this blog in an attempt to do just that. Inspired by 365 grateful, I will post one photo for each day of the year of something I encountered that day that reminded me how fortunate I am. 

Today is the 3rd, and I already have the first three photos in mind that I'm going to post, but some are on my phone and some on my camera. It will take some time for me to sort out the logistics of how I'm going to take and post these pictures. Look for more posts to come!