Over the last several weeks I have been looking towards the new year and trying to prepare for that one question that everyone is going to ask you, "So, what's your New Year's resolution?" I have been working on several things.
The biggest thing that I have been trying to focus on is my priorities. Our priorities are constantly changing, however, there should always be a few that stand above the rest and never change. When we were children our top priority was playing. As teens, our priority was trying to figure out who the heck we were and where we were going with our lives. Not to mention trying to get a date for the dance...okay so maybe that wasn't everyone else's priority, but just mine.
As college students our priority was to just graduate and find that awesome job. Now as a parent, it's to take care of our family.
If you think back through out all of our stages of life, there was always something that stood in the way of our priorities, or became a bigger priority, at least at that moment. As children, it was our parents priorities that typically trumped our own. As teens, it was always trying to impress our friends and making them the priority instead of really figuring out who we were. In college, for me, everyone was getting married, so my priority went from graduating to getting married. Now as a parent, my priority has gone from being an awesome parent, to making sure I go to work, coming home and editing a thousand pictures, and tending to the care of the household...ie: wife, kids, dog, cats, food, house projects, and more.
You may be thinking, "well what's the problem with all of that?" That's a great question. I think the problem has become that we stopped making ourselves a priority in our own lives. We make a lot of sacrifices to take care of everyone else and our families. At some point we must take time for ourselves or we will go completely insane.
From prayer, to showering, to fitness and health, to our own hobbies and interests. If we don't take time for ourselves I truly feel we will become bitter with those that have become the priority over us. I have seen this in friendships. Where one friend wants to monopolize the other friend's time. There has to be a happy medium or that relationship is destine to fail.
If we don't find a happy medium in our own lives for our selves, we are destine to fail.
Now, I am in no way saying turn your back on your responsibilities, or your family and friends, or work. But we have to find a way to put ourselves first some time.
So, if you were to ask me what my New Year's Resolution is...it's to rearrange my priorities; making myself a priority. Stay tuned to see how I plan to prioritize my life...
By the way...what's your New Year's Resolution?

I have to say that I am super frustrated with the world that I live in. When I graduated high school I had no intentions in joining the military. But 4 months later I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. After 6 months of Boot camp and training, I volunteered for a 3 month trip to Australia for Exercise Tandem Thrust.
Over the next 6 years I took several more trips to all over the United States and the world. So, all together I spent 8 years in the Marine Corps. All be it that the majority was in the Reserves, but once a month and at the very minimum two weeks out of the year.
My frustration is this, I asked for assistance from my local VA for heating oil, since it's so stinking expensive, and they told me since I was not on Active Duty, I wasn't eligible for help. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. At any time I could have been activated just like my counter parts and shipped over seas. And in all reality about two months after my Honorable discharge, my unit was sent over to Afghanistan and they have been twice for a year at a time each.
So here I am, a proud Veteran in my eyes who served in the most Elite fighting force known to man, and I get nothing paid back, but an occasional thanks.
You know the worst thing about it, I can't write to my congressman, because it's Jean Schmidt. And she is just ignorant and I have no trust in her what so ever. Especially after making comments about the Marines.
So, I guess I can write my Senator. But that will probably fall on deaf ears too. We shall see. Just wanted everyone to see how our government really treats the Men and Women who volunteer for service in our United States.