My New Year (2016) "Resolutions"

This  last year  (2015) has been a heck of a year for me. Full of learning of all sorts, sad difficult moments  and heartbreaks but also personal growth, happy moments and progress. I have been through a lot. I have learned a lot ....about myself and others around me. I am sure  that the learning never stops....and I am looking forward to it never stopping. However, I'm also hoping for not necessarily easier, less challenging year......but a happier new year for sure. Happy New 2016 Everyone! I sincerely wish that the new year brings  all of you everything you have hoped for. 

I'm not the type of person who likes to set the rules in stone as far as the  New Year's resolutions are concerned because we all change and evolve as the year goes on and our priorities, needs as wishes change and evolve with us as well. Therefore you might start with a certain plan and end up having a completely different one few months down the road.... but I do have  a few things that I would like to improve on as we all do so here are my "2016 New Year Resolutions".

1. Finding more inner peace- I think being at peace with yourself and your surroundings is of huge importance. Sometimes it's hard to be at peace when everything in your life gets out of balance but I find it's hugely important to understand that no matter what happens in your life  ultimately  everything will be okay. I for one as I mentioned above, have had quite a difficult and  mentally and  emotionally draining year ....so making sure to stay positive this year is very important to me.

2. Being more thankful- remembering to be thankful humbles you in more ways than you would ever expect. It makes you realize how truly lucky you are and that there are so many out there who would give anything to be in your place. Being thankful changes how you see yourself and your own life during those moments when you feel you have nothing good going for you. 

3. Living MY life- not the life everyone is expecting me to live. Living the life that genuinely makes ME happy without  giving  much thought wether others would approve. Im not the people pleaser and have never been one to begin with though there where many times I did do things to make others happy without taking myself into consideration, but the older I get the more I understand why this is so important. You only have this  one life, which goes by in a blink of an eye it seems. No matter how much or what you do to please others there is always going to be that one person who thinks  you should have said or done something different.....so let it go and live YOUR life without apologizing for it. 

4. Writing more- writing makes me happy,  Even though I always loved to read since I learned how to practically, I never imagined I would feel so fulfilled by writing nor that I could write so much few years back. I never thought it was "my thing" :). I feel like I can express my feelings, inspirations, ideas and thoughts on paper quite easily. Writing is  very  powerful and definitely something I'm looking forwards to doing much more of this year. 

5. Bringing more of my inspirations to life- I feel like during 2015 there where many moments where I was so inspired but couldn't express my creativity with my work as much or the way I really wanted to due to whatever else was going on in my life that was dragging me away from that. This year I plan to focus much more on it though.

6. Getting away from negativity- we all have people who drag us down and suck the energy out of our life. People who are very negative and try to project their negativity into our lives. Sometimes these types of people are hard to get away from because many times we care for them. But if you tried to improve you relations with them on many different occasions and nothing changed on their part/side it's time to cut the cord and take your life back. 

7. Deciding what truly matters-  for me  at this particular time in my life and going after that. Don't let anyone sidetrack you from your happiness, goals and dreams ....it's easy to say but sometimes very hard to do. This year, I want to be more stronger willed when it comes to this particular  area in my life.

8. Loosing 20 pounds- I have lost a lot of weight and for doing that I'm pretty proud of myself. However  during last year my life became a roller coaster on more than one ocassion and I kind of stayed in the same weight range even though my weight loss goal was to loose those 20 pounds all along. So this year I'm ready to do something about that. I feel it's time....starting today Jan 1st 2016! I have already developed a weight loss plan which I intend to follow for 2 months straight ....it's won't be easy but it's what I  truly want  and when you truly want something anything is possible :) ...I honestly believe that because I know it for a fact. 

9. Traveling more- some years I'm all over the globe and some I'm pretty much in one place for a long period of time. Last year was one of those years where I kind lived more of a sedentary life than I would have liked,  but this year my aim is to change that :). 

10. Having the best relationship  I possibly can with myself- this is so important. It has nothing to do with being selfish but with understanding that you are important ....

11. Enjoying the moment I'm in RIGHT NOW- I think many of us are caught up making a living and often we forget to actually live our life and enjoy living in the moment. Being more spontaneous and appreciate every moment while I'm living it is something I need to work on more this year as well.

12. Being more productive- I think we all have periods we wish we where more productive in. I think it has a lot to do with setting up a proper routine for a lifestyle one aspires to have ....I am no exception here. My daily routine could use some fine tuning and when better to work on that than the right at the beginning of the. year. 

13. Getting back to working out- months back I went to the gym 5 days a week with the weekend off ....I wanted to loose some more weight and felt that an hour at the gym, intense exercise, and low calorie intake was too much for my body to take so I stopped going .....just until I lose those 20 pounds I thought. But a lot has happened last year and somehow I unfortunately accomplished  neither. This year from today until the beginning of March my focus will be working on my 20 pound weight loss. Light gym routine will be a part of that journey. 

14. Crossing over some of the things on my bucket list- last year. I went for a mini cruise, a  hot air balloon ride and visited Canada for the first time. This year I'm hoping to do more of the things I have been wanting to do for a while instead of putting my bucket list.  on my fridge and saying "someday". 

15. Give more back- I take great pleasure in helping those less fortunate than me. I think more people should help out  the needy as well if and when they can by volunteering and donating. I think the satisfaction you get by understanding you made someone's life better in some way surpasses any satisfaction you can get from buying or getting anything material. 

16. Spending more time with those I care about- it goes without saying :). Sometimes I get so caught up in everything else that I forget that time is passing, my son is getting bigger day by day and I am getting older......spending time creating beautiful memories with not only your children but with all of those you care about is important. Letting them know you love and care about them is important. 

So there you go. Those are some of the things I feel I need to work on or improve on this year. What about you? 

Take care,

Laila