03 January 2013

New Year - Same Old Stuff?

I did an accountability project with LoseYourExcuseNow.com last year and loved it! I still follow their Facebook page because they have such positive and thought provoking posts. Last week they tried to get folks thinking about 2012 and how you want 2013 to be different (or the same!).

I'm pulling a couple of their questions over here to sort of multitask my morning. I wanted to think about and answer the questions, and of course I want to get back to blogging more regularly.

Question #1: What was the biggest milestone you "hit" this year? Can be personal, professional or both.
I'm choosing to address one of each, sort of. Professionally, I earned Dove Chocolate Discoveries first incentive trip, to Punta Cana (Domincan Republic). This was also done while having a new baby at home, and working from a new community. We moved mid-way through 2011, and the customers and hostesses I'd known for the three years of my business before that are now an hour away.
My other milestone was breastfeeding past the one-year mark with my new son (and we're still going strong now, by the way). I never doubted I could do it, but pumping enough milk to leave at home while I went on the incentive trip and attended the national conference a couple months later was a challenge - a challenge I met successfully!

Question #2: What was the most valuable lesson you learned this year?
While I can't quite finger just one valuable lesson, a couple of old idioms have really been hitting home with me, and I'm trying to adjust accordingly.
The first is that just because someone doesn't love you/give to you/help you as much as you want, doesn't mean they aren't giving you all they've got in that capacity. People are different. I think this is somewhat to do with 'love languages' (a concept I think I get, although I never have finished the book), and a lot to do with priorities.
This leads to what I actually get from that as the lesson: I can't change how someone else is, but how I respond is up to me. Usually being dissatisfied or angry about the lack just escalates the negativity. I can choose to take what's available and move on. This may mean fulfilling expectations with other sources (my daughter is a heck of a snuggler and comfortor!) or just adjusting my expectations to fit what's available.

Question #3: What was your favorite "friend moment" from 2012?
This is the hardest question so far for me. The move has really cut off a lot of my social ties like even having children didn't. I came up with a quick list, as there is no  one moment, just a few memories that stand out:
- hanging out half the night with Denise after taking the kids to see Aladdin
- talking to Melissa whenever and wherever
- playdates with Kristen (oh yeah, and Kate!)
- my annual ornament exchange
- meeting Matt's wife, Diana
- lunches with Kimmy
- Dove's national conference with Sharon (our annual tradition)


1 comment:

siteseer said...

your statement about some people give all they have and it still not being your expectations. I think back about my Father and he had a problem with the giving aspect of life. He wasn't a 'bad' man, but I've been told he took me to the bar to hang out with him (showing me off to his girlfriends). Don't think this was for me, more for him. And when I think back he was always a wifm (what's in it for me) person. Again, not a bad person, but a father of 8? Not a good match :)