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11 Words: New Year’s Resolutions for Your Life & Home

by | Jan 4, 2014 | Authentic Living, Creative Inspiration & Projects, Domesticity

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11 Words: New Year's Resolutions for Your Life & Home

 

Happy 2014!

In thinking about New Year’s Resolutions for my life and home, I found this quote from Alexandra Stoddard (one of my favorite authors!) which sums up so much of what I need to remember to embrace and what I have already learned about life, homemaking and creating a home I love.

It may be ELEVEN WORDS instead of the popular ONE WORD for 2014 (heheheh, I’m often a woman of MORE words, not less), but I think they hold great wisdom and thought-provoking insight for us as home-creators!

Most of us probably want to slow life down in 2014, but at the same time we also have goals and dreams! Right? I do! We want our homes to be more organized. We want them to be cleaner. We want our homes to be fixed up and prettier. Maybe we want to be more creative or confident. We want to be content with where we are, but we want to dream about the possibilities and we want to have hope that we might actually arrive at a home and life we love.

We probably don’t actually expect to be perfect at everything but at the same time, we want things to be better than they are now.

And likely along the way we have aspirations to be a better spouse and parent, perhaps to be healthier and to provide a healthy home for our family, to reach our personal or career goals, maybe even to start a blog or a business. We want to be successful in some way.

So how can we reach toward our goals while still keeping up with what needs to be done or is thrown at us on life’s journey (without freaking out, being stressed out, over-committed or never arriving where we want to go?). There are always roadblocks and setbacks and unrealistic expectations to overcome. Being intentional about homemaking, decorating, our career or goal setting sounds good on paper, but can be so hard to keep up with the day to day challenges we face!

I’ve found so much peace in the process over the years of homemaking, blogging and other areas of our life. I certainly haven’t arrived, but the beauty and value in the day to day journey is becoming more clear and focused as I get older and hopefully wiser and more experienced with what works for me and what doesn’t. I know what mistakes I’ve already made and how I can learn from them. 

I cannot wait to share more of the how to’s and the process of creating a home and life I love.

I really am excited for 2014 — and I have so much to share here on The Inspired Room! You’d think after 6.5 years of blogging and a very long time of decorating and managing my home I’d run out of words or ideas to share, but no. My husband teases me because my most frequently uttered words at our house are “I have an idea…!” heheh. I feel more inspired than ever.

ONE word apparently can’t sum up my expectations or goals for 2014, but ELEVEN might be a good start!

Let’s share!

What are your dreams for 2014?

What are some roadblocks you hope to overcome on your journey toward a home and life you love?

16 Comments

  1. Glenda Childers

    I have long been a fan of Alexandra Stoddard. Many years ago I wrote her and she sent me back the most charming letter … just like her.

    Fondly,
    Glenda

    Reply
  2. Melanie

    Thank you for sharing the quote and your encouraging words!
    My dreams for 2014: to return to our house after being away from it for two years and make it a home again where it reflects my creativity and the inner transformation that has occurred in me while we’ve been away.
    My roadblocks:
    * a very tight budget
    * I have very few pieces of furniture that don’t need to be replaced, recovered, or painted (Most of my furniture has been stored in our garage or stacked high in our master bedroom – which wasn’t used by the people who lived there while we were gone. I am walking into a MESS!
    *I’m bringing a truck load of inherited items from my parents’ home that also need to be recovered or stripped and most definitely CLEANED!
    *Big projects tend to overwhelm me, but I refuse to agree with the message that I often hear, “It’s TOO difficult!” or “I can’t do this!”
    *I love an aesthetically pleasing home, it helps to bring me peace and this project is going to take TIME! (I know where my peace really comes from and that will ground me as I work through putting some order to our home.) I recently learned in an art class that you can’t rush the process of creating or else the end result will suffer. That may not always be true for everything, but I want to be purposeful and only bring items back into our home that we love.
    I plan to document the process; I think that will help me from getting discouraged. (I know that journaling has helped me in my personal life to remember the growth that has occurred!)
    Thank you, Melissa! Your excitement in creating a home is contagious!

    Reply
  3. Sheneela Akram

    Those eleven words worth a million. Thank you for sharing them. Looking forward to learn more and more from you and all the wonderful ideas that you have to share to make our places prettier and bright. Happy new year and wishes for a great year ahead. :)

    Reply
  4. Katie @ Wildwood Creek

    I love Alexandra Stoddard! When I read her books years ago, I devoured them; they spoke to my soul. I would love if you would post about Alexandra again. Thank you for jogging my memory about Alexandra Stoddard. I’m going to have to read her books again!

    Reply
  5. Alison

    I received my first Alexandra Stoddard book several years ago for my birthday and have been inspired by her ever since! And if you ask my husband what 4 words uttered from my lips strike fear in his heart? They are……. ” I have an idea”…AGH!

    Reply
  6. Faith

    One word or eleven – whatever moves you and keeps your eye on your goal. Happy 2014!

    Reply
  7. Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm

    Mrs. Stoddard has been a favorite for decades; she and Debbie Macomber (her non-fiction) are my two favorites of all time. My prayers for 2014 include selling my farm and buying/moving closer to family. I’ve given away and am still giving away a lot of furniture and rugs; am putting my finances on Quicken and re-structuring my life anew.
    The season of life I had with Dave is now over, it’s time to move forward in the direction of new dreams.

    Reply
  8. Wendi @ H2OBungalow

    Just had to tell you how much I enjoyed your post and the quote you choose was beautiful. I need to print that out and look at it daily. Happy New Year and thank you or sharing.

    Reply
  9. Melissa

    I’m new to your blog and I really love it. So inspiring and positive. Maybe I missed it in your post, but is there a way you could make the AS quote you made into a printable? I would love to frame it and have on my desk for encouragement. Have a blessed new year!

    Reply
  10. Celena Green

    You know, I often struggle with the same idea of wanting to slow down but also wanting to get a lot of things accomplished. I think for me the key thing to remember is priorities. I want to get a lot of things done this year but I also want to be able to trust that even if I’m in the middle of a project and a certain little girl that I know comes up to me and wants me to hug her or kiss her or read her story that I’ll be able to stop and know what’s really important in life. As for your fondness for many words I’m right there with you and I happen to think that your words are lovely! Looking forward to reading your insights this year!

    Reply
  11. Brenda

    Melissa – Love your post and the quote from Alexandra Stoddard – I need to have it framed and put where I can see it often as a reminder! My pastor Mike Ashcraft and his co-author Rachel Olsen wrote a great book for spiritual growth and formation called My One Word – Change Your Life with Just One Word. http://www.myoneword.org …It walks you through the process of choosing just one word …one that represents what you most hope God will do in you, and focus on it for an entire year.

    Reply
  12. Lexie

    I was forced to slow down in 2013 due to a 5 month long illness. Now my goal is to pack my house and move back to CA to my hometown with friends and family. It’s been a terrible year of living in a place with illness , horrible weather and no friends. I look forward to organizing my move and being home again. The more activity the better for me

    Reply
  13. pendy

    I love Alexandra Stoddard’s writing; she’s the one who taught me to edit and only keep things I love, even down to the colors of dishtowels and pens.

    Her advice could be shortened to: Trust the Process – I think I like that thought very much.

    Reply
  14. hope

    I think my word for 2014 isn’t going to be contained in just 1 word either. I think it may be time to dig out the thesaurus.

    Reply
  15. melissa@joyineveryseason

    oh, I’m so **glad** to see you chose 11 words … choosing just one word for the entire year stresses me out :o)

    Reply

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