My one and only goal for 2011

I have been pondering what my "New Year Resolution" would be, but my hubby and I don't really like to declare resolutions that are going to fizzle by mid-January. I mean, let's face it, has anyone ever kept their resolution until the next year? Last year, my best friend Paige offered a new take on the matter. Instead of declaring a resolution, spend time praying and asking God to reveal the one area of your life that needs the most work.

My word for 2010 was FORGIVENESS. Boy, that was a really, really, really tough one. I am the queen of holding grudges...and I don't know that I have 100% forgiven some people that were at the top of my list of needing it. About mid-year, our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship at FB North Mobile, for future reference) decided to do a study on Love and Respect in marriage...but if you apply the "respect" portion to all areas of life, i.e. respecting all people as human beings, then forgiveness just flows with it. Let's just say I'm still working on it. (Side note: I highly encourage all of my married/engaged/dating friends to read the book above, it completely changed our marriage. COMPLETELY.)  But enough about last year.

The one thing I need the most work on this year is SELFLESSNESS. (I'm being transparent here because I need some accountability from my peeps.) When I really dug into the heart of the matter of all the resolutions I wanted to set, the root of them all is self-ish-ness. Take a look:

DIETING:

• Selfishness says: "I'm hungry but I don't feel like cooking anything, I'll just eat an oatmeal cream pie."
• Selflessness says: "It's time for my family and me to eat, and since nutrition and health is really the only reason for eating, I'll get off the couch to put time and care into preparing a well-balanced meal for my family."

CLEANING:

• Selfishness says: "I can't take my eyes off of facebook (or the tv, blogging, email, and other distractions), and I really just want to sit on the couch and not do anything today. I'll put "Mopping Monday" off until tomorrow."
• Selflessness says: "My husband deserves to come home to a clean and peaceful home each day, and Carson deserves a clean floor to crawl around on. I will put aside my laziness and distractions to serve them and clean these floors. (Plus if I stay on top of my chores, they are not as hard to complete.)"

 SAVING MONEY:

• Selfishness says: "I really want that new pair of super-cute shoes, even though I'm wearing a pair that are almost identical right now. They're only $30, and we have that right now. I'll just get them and if Marc doesn't like them, then I'll bring them back." (If you know my husband, you know he HATES taking things back, so this always works in my favor.)
• Selflessness says: "Instead of spending the extra money on new shoes that I don't really need just because we have it, I'll save that money for something we really need. After all, we still have bills that are not paid off, and our savings is not anywhere near where we would like for it to be. And who knows when we will have emergency expenses such as those we experienced in December."
• Selfishness says: "I don't feel like preparing food right now, we'll just stop and get fast food while we're out. We have a little bit of extra money." -or- "While I'm here at the grocery store, I'd better get some highly processed quick foods and junky snacks for those times when I don't feel like cooking."
• Selflessness says: "I'll take the time now to prepare wholesome snacks and on-the-go foods for my family so that we don't get caught hungry and have to compromise our wallets and health."

I really could go on and on with this topic, but I think you get the picture. When setting a one-word goal, there is room for mistakes, and with plenty of prayer and dedication, selflessness will come naturally to me. Selflessness also -and most importantly- applies to the way I treat/act around/respond to others. Thinking less about my needs and wants and more about the needs and wants of others will keep me in check. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all did this?

It certainly won't be easy, and I could use some major accountability, folks. Why does God always give me the tough ones? lol. So what's your Word of the Year? (or NY Resolution?)