One Little Word

My sister posted about the 'one little word' concept last year, and I noticed she was doing it again this year. I had struggled back and forth with what my resolution would be this year because there are so many things I'm working on; training for and completing a marathon (huge!), working on one knitting project at a time (I tend to get ahead of myself), getting my house organized (and staying that way), signing up for at least one race a month from March to November, by which time I hope to have shed the last 50 pounds I still want to, and be knocked up again. Be a present and mindful mother and wife instead of someone who's just 'there' a lot. Make healthful meal choices for myself and my family, even when the chinese take-out menus and pizza delivery boys are singing to me, at least five days a week.

How to sum that all up in one resolution? I know! How about instead of trying to use lots of words, I'll just pick one. There will be a lot of roadblocks, and excuses along the way I'm quite sure, but in the end I want to cross that finish line, bind off one by one, and most of all, be a good example to my kids about how you can have what you want if you're willing to work for it in spite of all the things that make what you want really, really hard to get. But more importantly, that you can still have a life outside of your goals.

My husband is the inspiration for this word as whatever he sets out to do, he gets it done. He read the entire Shelby Foote Civil War series line by line, page by page in the space of less than a year. That's a million and a half words on over three thousand pages. He completed Ranger School, and then hung around with those boys for another four years. He muscled through eleven years of higher education to get his first 'real' job. He's becoming quite the accomplished 'car stealer' on Grand Theft Auto (okay, so I won't count that one). He's been married to me for almost eight years, for crying out loud; I bet he'll say that one was the hardest. Perseverance folks.

And this year, I'm gonna get mine. Perseverance.