one little word: MANAGE

With the arrival of another new year, inevitably, comes a rush of resolutions; ideas involving things I want to accomplish/change/aspire to within my life... and so, in my quest for change and instant gratification I (also inevitably) end up setting unrealistic goals for myself, biting off more than I can chew and, before I know it, those resoloutions are nothing but a teeeny tiny dot in the rear view of my daily grind. That said, I've decided that all that resolution crap is for the birds. I've adopted a new approach to making changes in my life and it's all based on a shockingly simple concept by uber creative scrapbooker Ali Edwards.

Within her *One Little Word* project AE explains how, by examining and identifying what we really want, we can enrich many aspects of our lives; about simplifying the thought process and finding a single word that sums up our ultimate goal, and then using that word to reflect upon and use as a guide to help us tackle our challenges.

My word for 2009 is: Manage.

• I want to learn how to manage all the different aspects of my life so that I don't always feel so overwhelmed and scattered.

• I want to manage my family life better and make a concentrated effort for each of them to know how important they are to me and how much I value my time with them. I hope to encourage stronger bonds between them and nurture their sense of family.

• I want to manage my finances better so I can get rid of the stress of wondering if there's enough in my checking account to cover our expenses on a month to month basis. I don't want to pay overdraft charges or late fees any more.

• I want to manage my home better so that my family feels proud of what they come home to and we can welcome friends graciously and without trepidation.

• I want to manage my time better so that I don't always feel like I'm playing catch up. I need to learn how to pace myself and plan accordingly. With better time management, I'm hoping to be able to dedicate some of the *bonus* time I'm left with, to doing things to enrich myself.

My ultimate goal at this point is to manage from day to day with a sense of accomplishment and to look forward to the future without feeling like I'm lacking in so many areas of my life. Granted, we're only a couple of weeks into the new year but I can definitely say that the changes I've made so far have made a big difference and I feel a much better sense of balance... I'm managing. :)

...so, what's your one little word??