Hi friends, it’s a new year! Yup, 2014 has begun! Can you believe it? It seems 2013 flew by….yet, I can remember many good things about the year! There were challenges too – I mean bad/hard times, but I try to stay positive, so I call them “challenges” ;). I try to learn from challenges, to find something positive in them or a learning experience. Overall, 2013 was a very good year! I have many blessings to be thankful for, most important are the well-being of my family, friends, a wonderful husband and the home we form, my health, and a rewarding career.

My grandmother uses a saying,”Every problem has a solution, as long as you are alive and healthy, there is a solution!”  I try to apply that as much as possible and it helps – and is very true. So, I feel very, very blessed and fortunate, regardless of the challenges life brings, we always find a solution. In 2013, the hardest moment for me was losing my Uncle Abel. I wrote about his passing in my blog and am dealing with getting used to living without his presence in our family. I say “getting used to living without his presence” because I don’t think I will ever overcome his death, as many of us never get over the death of a loved one. So, having said that, this was the only challenge in the year I could not find a solution for. Everything else, we fixed, got over or moved forward from, learned from it and it made us stronger or wiser….and many of these things seem unimportant today.

These past few days, I’ve been reflecting on the year…..the year that just passed and the year to come. I used to write New Year’s Resolutions, but haven’t done that in a while. I do have goals and plans, I write some of them down, but I do this at multiple times of the year, not just on New Year’s Day.

I did a little research and learned that New Year’s Resolutions have been around since the times of the Romans, they would begin their year making promises to the god Janus, for whom January is named. The tradition has continued and many people still write them every year. These resolutions are usually goals, plans, or acts of self-improvement (I almost always have a resolution to lose those last 5 pounds, ha)  beginning the new year.

My resolutions this year include:

– Call my mom & grandmother more often (they are in my thoughts & prayers daily, but I want to call them more often)

– Spend more time with close friends (life has many demands on our time, but my close friends are like family to me)

– Exercise more often (I’ve been slacking the past few months)

– Eat healthier (I eat pretty healthy, but can improve)

– Read more (a hobby I enjoy & learn from -I read non-fiction- but have spent less time doing lately)

– Spend more time on my blog – add posts more often (I am enjoying the blog & the interaction with you, it has become a nice community & am glad you are also enjoying it, thanks for your comments, it warms my heart when I meet people and they tell me they read the blog! Thank you!)

– Learn to edit video & photos (I have wanted to learn to edit video for the past year, but have prioritized other projects at work, this year I need to learn it and will make it a priority)

-Improve my skills in social media and learn about the latest marketing trends (I believe in self-improvement and continuos growth, I’m always trying to find ways and get feedback from colleagues on how to improve my work, be it my on-camera skills, the projects I work on, producing, managing, marketing, etc…there is always room for growth)

I have another personal resolutions and will share it if….when it comes true.

Best wishes to all of you and God bless! May 2014 bring you everything you want, health, happiness, success, and many, many blessings!

Do you write New Year’s Resolutions? What are they, share in the comments!

Hugs & Happy New Year,

Paola

This pic is from a few years ago, it is so festive I decided to add it to the post 🙂 Happy New Year’s!