It's never too early...

Photo credit: Confetti System for Urban Outifitters

It's safe to say that the blistery winds and snow of winter are now here. As I sit typing this looking out on our backyard, I can see some of the dried hydrangea flowers that were still on the bush blowing away like tumbleweeds. For many, winter is a bit of a "Debby Downer" season. The lack of sunshine during these months is always an adjustment. Some flee south for warmer weather and others hibernate. For Kyle and I winter has become a solitude. With crazy busy Spring-Summer-Fall seasons we normally "dial down" a bit in the Winter. Work days are shortened and a time for re-energizing and re-charging is in order.

However, this Winter may not slow down- it very well may "speed up." With A Day in May, Event Planning & Design continuing to grow (we are almost booked for 2010) I'll be working hard this winter on further establishing our blog, our internet marketing presence and designing for our new clients and our company (i.e. continuing to sculpt ADIM).

With our last wedding of 2009 almost three months past I've been in a motivational and inspirational funk. And to be frank, I've been overwhelmed with all the responsibilities of owning a small business and being a wife, daughter, sister, friend at the same time. Some days I find that because my plates are so full that I don't know where to begin.

Because I know I'm not the only person who feels this way I thought I'd fill you all in on my 2010 New Years resolutions that I'm starting today, it's never too early...

Alicia's 2010 New Years Resolution(s) are:

1) to be a better wife.
No one is perfect, thankfully. And I am most definitely not the perfect wife. Since starting ADIM I've been focused on the success of our business rather than the growth and success of our marriage. I am so blessed to have such a great husband and I want to do more to let him know how wonderful he is and how much I love him. He has always supported me and my dreams and I too want to support him.

2) to learn just "to be."
For the sake of my own mental health I need to learn how to relax! I can watch a movie or read a book but I need to learn how to simply exist, "to be."

3) to be more productive with the time I have.
Liene Stevens with Splendid Communications had a great post a while back about Block Scheduling. I know that Block Scheduling does not work for me however I do know that I am most productive in the mornings. By maximizing my "work" time the more time I will have to spend with Kyle, Murphy and our family and friends.

I was talking with one of my best friends last weekend who said she "doesn't have her life figured out." None of us do! I especially don't. But I do know that I want to make changes in my life that will have a positive impact on myself and those I love before things "speed" out of control that I loose the solitude and stillness.

Flash back...

Take a look at this... precious isn't he?

God willing...

Mom shared this with me the other day... it's such a powerful reminder that we are not in control of our lives. We live in a society of expectations and false realities but what really is "real?"

Lately I've been focusing on the here and now. Being present. To be. Last night during our small group, the lovely women I meet with twice a week and I were chatting about how we are "programmed" which is far from living in the present. We are built on routine and autopilot- especially during the work week or in our family's case, the busy season (April-November).

Finding time "to be" is difficult. I run two businesses, starting a third (more on that to come!), keeping house and trying to find time for me which is gym/eat, give some attention to Murphy and spend time with Kyle.

Enjoy this brief insight from My Grandfather's Blessings- a great reminder of just how fragile life is...

It is possible to befriend uncertainty, to remind yourself and others of the fluid, ever-changing nature of things. To remain awake to all possibility. Like many Orthodox Jews, my grandfather never made an appointment or spoke of any event without adding the words "God willing." It is actually a teaching of Orthodox Judaism that one does not make a promise without this tip of the hat to the authority of God. So whether someone said "I'll see you next Tuesday," or "We will have dinner in an hour," Grandpa would invariably respond, "God willing." God might, after all, end the world sometime between now and the chicken soup. There was never any fear in his voice when he said this, just a simple reminding of himself and those around him of the nature of things. Life required us to hold things loosely, not to be attached to a particular outcome. The lunch appointment, the pot roast, the graduation, or the marriage -- all were in God's hands. To be alive was to wait for the will of God to reveal itself. And one waited with curiosity. A sense of adventure. Much in the way you read a detective story at bedtime, struggling to stay awake in order to discover what is true, to see how things will turn out. If the fulfillment of every promise or plan rests on God's approval, then God's hand is hidden in everything that happens. According to my grandfather, all tragedy or blessings was a part of some unknowable and dynamic purpose. One might not always get one's own way, but one trusted the Way absolutely. At any given time, the will of God might be unknown, but the presence of God was certain and was the only certainty anyone needed in order to live. These days, my appointment calendar has places for entries three years ahead. There is a certain hubris in this, and, even as I write my commitments down, I remember this other way of living. I exchange letters of confirmation, I make plans, I even buy plane tickets, but deep inside I hold these things loosely. Lightly. I make my promises, and then I wait to find out. In my heart, I still hear my grandfather say, "God willing."