End of year ritual, the new year waiting room

The year is finally coming to a close all presents have been exchanged a months worth of calories has been consumed in a matter of days and children and parents everywhere are just starting to crash and burn after all the Christmas excitement.

The time between Christmas and new year is always a bit like no mans land a kind of waiting area for the new year to begin with all its promise of fresh starts and resolutions. I often find myself wishing it away as I'm eager to start a fresh with new plans and ideas but often then forget to use the waiting area to live the moment and find time of refection and celebration.

I was inspired by Holly Beckers end of year ritual to use the time to reflect on this years accomplishments before planning full steam ahead.
http://decor8blog.com/2011/12/29/end-of-year-ritual-list-your-accomplishments/

I think this is a great idea as often we just rush around always planning in our heads what we need to do next so much that we are not even present in what we are currently doing. We rarely take the time to see how far we have come or congratulate ourselves on what we have achieved too busy focusing on what we didn't achieve.

Looking back over 2011 is a bit scary my instinct is to dwell on and berate myself for time i feel i have wasted but if i look closely even the things that did not go so well have taught me valuable lessons and i have learnt new skills as a result so this is an achievement in its self.

I have made a lot of life changes this year and like many mums have realised that you cant have it all therefore to focus on whats really important and just let the rest go. I would far rather be enjoying time with my family than paying someone to look after them, this has meant having to creatively survive on less money but again in this i found new ways to use my skills.

The skill of being creative with less money inspired me to start blogging and  making it as mum was born, i am the least technical person i know so had to learn a new skill from scratch and I'm so glad i did, i have met some wonderful people and found lots of wonderful blogs. I followed the little mummy free blog course and found it really easy to follow for a novice like me and definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of starting a blog. http://www.littlemummy.com/mum-blogger-e-course/

Following the mum blogger course also gave me the confidence to try become a mumpreneur this again is a fantastic course that helped me to re asses my skills and see how i could be a great mum and earn an income.
http://www.becomeamumpreneur.com/

This course for me turned up a surprising result as i realised that i could use my retail visual merchandising skills and my love of property to move and improve and set the mortgage challenge (there's money in the house) http://makingitasmum.blogspot.com/2011/12/theres-money-in-house.html?utm_source=BP_recent

My mum has become housebound this year as is very poorly and i look back over the year and see that although i have felt stressed and often overwhelmed by responsibility i have done a great job of holding the family together and I'm really proud of myself for that. I am glad that my mum gets to stay in her own home for as long as possible with the care and support i can give her.

I love designing and decorating and my favourite project this year was definitely my little boys room that was achieved on a really tight budget and is something to look back this year on with pride.
http://makingitasmum.blogspot.com/2011/11/nautical-boat-bedroom-on-budget.html

I'm also proud of being the best mum and wife i can be, I'm very far from perfect but i do the very best i personally can do to ensure i have a happy and healthy family.

Before i started writing this post at first glance 2011 was a year i thought i was pleased to say goodbye to but on closer inspection i see how many precious moments pass in a year that barely get the praise they deserve and it truly is worthwhile spending a few moments in the new year waiting room and being grateful for the present moment before welcoming in the new year.

Take a little time  to reflect and celebrate 2011 and feel free to share your thoughts and comments.
Lets hope 2012 brings as many good things our way, Happy new year everyone xxxxxxxxxxx

Thought of the day.......... Live the moment