Reflections On 2011 and Hopes For 2012

Wow, what a year... I cant say its been great but it was definitely a better year than 2010. What made it better? No life changing decisions made! In 2010 I started a new job, fell pregnant, got married, lost said job and moved house. 2011 was a pretty quiet in year which I enjoyed with my new son. It was a year of discovery, in myself, and a year of healing. At the end of 2010 I found myself in the cardiac ICU, mostly brought on by stress. I was able to pin point the causes of this stress, either change them or deal with them and became a much calmer person for it. In 2011 I concentrated on bettering my physical health, in 2012 I plan to concentrate on my spiritual and psychological health.

I also started my blog last year, which has brought me much joy. I love the interaction with like minded parents this blog has brought me. I started volunteering for the Natural Parents Network which has proved life changing,what a wonderful group of parents working together and sharing experiences and advice.

In case you missed them, here are my most popular posts of 2011:

• The best first food for babies
• My little healthy eater : November Carnival of Natural Parenting
• Now that we've started solids... how much? And how often?
• Overcoming my fear of all things financial : October Carnival of Natural Parenting
• The gratitude challenge : 100 Things I am grateful for
• When is the right time to start baby on solids?
• Should you supplement your child's diet?

My hopes for 2012 is that I can continue growing as a person, slowly kneading out flaws in my personality and reaching an even calmer state. Amy, from Peace 4 Parents, recently reminded me of these wise words: stop concentrating on what you don't want, and start concentrating on what you do want. I totally believe in the power of positive thinking, and this year plan to concentrate on changing my attitude a little. I have made a few new years resolutions, I love making resolutions and (as long as they're not totally unattainable) usually reach them. I'm always interested to hear other peoples resolutions, so I will share mine:

Cut ALL sugar from my diet. I have done this before when I was diagnosed with a Candida overgrowth and noticed a dramatic improvement in my general well-being and with my moods. Unfortunately I started eating sugar again, and with whilst advocating such a healthy diet for my son I feel very guilty eating a chocolate. The time has come to give up my sugar addiction again.

Eat raw food only till lunch. I had in fact decided to start this in November, however with the holidays and all the festivities it was put on the back burner. I aim to eventually get to a high raw fruit and veg diet including nuts and seeds, perhaps 80% raw... I know my body would be in peak condition at this level. Follow me as I blog about this journey on Mondays in my Monday Munch segment.

Wake up, and get up, at 6am every morning. I am not a morning person, and find it so easy to lay in bed until 8am, especially of Jesse is still asleep. I started this one a couple of days before the new year and what an improvement. I find Jesse gets up earlier too, and therefore goes to bed earlier. Its also so much easier to get the day started on the right foot if you wake up early. When I would wake up later, I would sometimes find myself still in my pyjamas at 11am as I try to get the dishes and laundry done.

Take part in the Couch to 5K challenge. Exercise for me has always been intermittent and as I slowly get older and older the importance of it dawns upon me. I haven't started this challenge yet as I am battling to find a suitable time to go for my walk/run. A time when someone else can watch Jesse so that I can leave the house. I may just find myself waking even earlier to get this done....

Go No 'Poo. I have seriously long, thick but dry hair, and I know it will benefit from the absence of all chemical cleaning agents. A couple of days in, it is looking very scary indeed, but I intend to push through and will keep you posted.

Catch up and stay in regular contact with all my special friends. Motherhood keeps you busy, often too busy for coffee and a chat with a friend, especially if they don't have children. More than likely they're not as excited as you to sit in the kiddies play area of a restaurant. So, over the past year and admittedly even before then, I have lost contact with special people despite Facebook. I have already started contacting them all again!

Own up to my beliefs, and have the courage to stand by my convictions. I generally avoid hot topics like vaccinations and circumcision, whether on this blog or just chatting to an aunt. This year I vow to have the courage to stand by my choices, decisions and research.

I think these should keep me rather busy in 2012. I am excited about many of them and plan to take one day at a time, always moving forward.

Have you made any new years resolutions? What are they?