The ABC's for my New Year

Just in case you have been living in a time warp somewhere and missed the fuss, the fireworks and the fun, it's now 2015!!

Personally, I have never been much of a New Years Resolutions kind of a girl. For the past several years, I have made a modified attempt at it, wherein I decide on a focus for the year, rather than setting a list of resolutions. A few years back, my focus was to simplify. The next year I set my sights on serving others. And I am happy to report that I feel I have been successful in this form of resolution setting. Is that to say I have been perfect in my pursuits?? No way! I made plenty of mistakes. I got caught up in silly things. I was sometimes very selfish. Still, at the end of these past years, I could look back and say that I had done something right, and that was what mattered to me.

As I contemplated what I wanted my focus to be in 2015, I came across a post on Facebook from President Thomas S. Monson that said:

“At the advent of a new year, I challenge Latter-day Saints everywhere to undertake a personal, diligent, significant quest for what I call the abundant life—a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings. Just as we learned the ABCs in school, I offer my own ABCs to help us all gain the abundant life.

A in my ABCs refers to attitude.

B is for believe—in yourself, in those around you, and in eternal principles.

C is for courage. Courage becomes a worthwhile and meaningful virtue when it is regarded not so much as a willingness to die manfully but as a determination to live decently."

...and it got me thinking. The abundant life, as he describes it, is a great thing to strive for and I decided that would be my 2015 focus. So I wrote his ABC's on the whiteboard I keep in my room. And as I stood there, dry erase marker in hand, I found that the rest of the ABC's came to me with ease. I almost didn't think about it as I jotted them down, knowing that the things I was adding to my list would aid me in achieving the abundant life.

So, I share my 2015 Abundant Life Alphabet with you now. Pick and choose from it as you like. Take it or leave it in it's entirety if that is what suits your needs, but these are the things I feel to be important for me in the coming year: 

A- Attitude

B- Believe--in yourself, in others and in eternal principles

C- Courage-- to live decently

D- Dedication-- to the things you know to be right, to your health, to your family and to your friends

E- Embrace the experiences that you have

F- Faith that good things are going to happen in 2015

G- Grateful in any circumstance (Read President Uchtdorf's talk on this here)

H- Humility and trust in the Lord and His timing

I- Increase your income

J- Joy in the journey--it's all about enjoying the small things in life

K- Kindness matters (Thanks to John Dillon for frequently reminding me of this!)

L- Live a life worth emulating. Love much. Laugh often.

M- Make a difference in the lives of the people around you 

N- Never give up!

O- Overcome insecurity and open yourself up to life's possibilities.

P- Perspective-- keep it positive, keep it eternal

Q- Quality time with the people who are important to you

R- Record your heritage

S-Spend less. Save more. Life is better when it is Simple

T- Time for Travel. It's fun and it creates worthwhile memories

U- Use your talents to leave the people, places and things you come into contact with a little better

V- Virtue-- it is important to have high moral standards

W- Wants--keep them reasonable

X- Cut gossip, vanity and selfishness from your life (I know, cut doesn't start with an x, but let's get real here...what legitimate word in my vocabulary does?!?)

Y- YOLO! Cheesy, I know. But it's true. Make this year worth remembering!

Z- Zest for adventure

This certainly isn't an exhaustive list, and even as I was writing I thought of things I could add, but I hope this helps you as you decide what your resolutions will be in the coming year. Most of all, I hope that this year is filled with an abundance of goodness, success and blessings, because we all need more of that in our lives.

Wishing you a happy, safe, and wonderful 2015!