Hello 2012!!!

I'm not in Paris, but I wish I was! Maybe next year...

Happy 2012 dear readers! I hope you brought the new year in right, got home safely, and are spending the day with the people you love. I didn't have a raging New Years Eve like I did last year, but it was a wonderful evening nonetheless. I woke up this morning thinking about how different my life is now from a year ago. Here are some of the things I learned in 2011:

1) Sometimes you just have to step out on faith. I spent the beginning of the year planning and agonizing over moving back to my hometown. I don't do well with change, and the idea of all that upheaval along with all the stress that comes with moving... I was scared! Plus I was focused so much on what I didn't have and whether I would be able to do this on my own. My mother really pushed me, and while I found it really annoying at times, I realize now that I needed it. At some point you have to stop worrying about what could go wrong and just have faith that it will turn out right.

2) Focus on the things you can control. I spent a lot of time speculating about what could happen, driving myself crazy trying to prepare a defense for an unworthy opponent. I realize I can't control everything around me, but I can control how I handle myself. I am a very sensitive, emotional person and I realize that sometimes people will try to exploit that. I have to be careful and not feed into the negative energy.

3) Being single is a lot of fun. Of course I can say this in hindsight. But if you read my Living Single blog series, you have to admit my adventures in dating were quite funny. I still laugh when I think about the preacher man! But what I learned was if I kept a good attitude and remained open to different possibilities anything could happen. When I kept my objective on having fun I could really enjoy the process of dating.

4) Love sneaks up on you. Being in a relationship was not even on my radar at the beginning of 2011. I hadn't been dating and I had no idea what kind of men were out there. And I was kind of in that who is gonna want me head space. But a fluke conversation has blossomed into quite a romance. Who knew?

5) Your thoughts are powerful. This year I realized how much my thoughts betray me. My whole internal dialogue was on some self-defeat ish. I don't know if I've always been that way or if it's a byproduct of what I had been through. But I started listening to what I was telling myself about myself and man was it eye-opening! It is an ongoing process, but it's working. For instance, that aforementioned who is gonna want me turned into who wouldn't want me? See what I'm talking about!

So, with that in mind, here are my resolutions for 2012:

1) Living in abundance. I tend to focus on not having enough, and I realize that I have more than a lot of folks. Instead of worrying about what I don't have, I need to be grateful for what I do have. I realize that I'm focusing energy on the wrong things.

2) Do Work Son! My home life is settled, my kid is doing great, my love life is great and my family is healthy. It's time to focus on my career goals and further my education. I realize I have grown complacent and part of that is because I'm really comfortable where I am at. It's time to really look at where I'm at and where I'm trying to go, make a plan and do the work. Let's get it!

3) Lose these last pounds. So cliche but so true. My boyfriend and I have a weight loss challenge. I have to lose 22 pounds (he has to lose 15) by March 18th or suffer some insane consequence yet to be decided. So I'll be blogging about my efforts and you can also track my progress on the right side of the page. I'll be using My Fitness Pal to track my calorie consumption and exercise. I know men lose weight faster than women, but something tells me I'm gonna smoke him on this one!

So what did you learn in 2011, and what are your New Years Resolutions? And don't hit me with the whole "resolutions are stupid" bit, because that's just not fun! Leave me a comment! And may you have a blessed and prosperous 2012!