In my previous post I talked about 2012 being a year of change for our family, knowing without a shadow of a doubt, that amazing things are in store for us! Yet a very important factor here is that we, as a family, should do our part in order to bring those amazing things our way. We can’t sit back and hope that it will all fall in our laps, with no effort on our part.
So, what is our part?
- Taking action — At the start of the new year I made a list of non-negotiable actions I would take, on a regular basis, with my children. Non-negotiable means no excuses to me. In other words, I will do everything in my power to follow through on the resolutions I wrote down. I will share that list with you in a future post.
- Taking time to listen to each other more — Communication, in my opinion, is of paramount significance to family relationships. True listening is setting aside what I want to say in order to listen deeply to what the other has to say. In our case, I am reminding myself to be a better listener as well as pointing out how the kids could improve their listening skills as well. Communication is a fascinating topic which I will definitely touch on, in more detail, in future posts.
- Investing in our most important asset: ourselves! I told my daughter one day that if she practiced her art for one hour every day for five years, at the end of those five years (age 17) she would be an expert amongst others her age, if not those who are older. She really took it to heart and is most often seen sketching or painting, most afternoons. Her brothers have also become interested in developing their talents and dedicating themselves to learning and becoming better.
- Encouraging creativity — I’ve made it a point to do more activities that dip into every form of art that our family enjoys, whether it is through music, painting, singing, dancing, writing, photography, etc. I know that it helps towards developing more right brain/left brain coordination and also adds quite a bit of fun to our daily routines!
These steps are only a beginning. Really and truly, they are very small steps towards the changes that will be taking place in our lives. Yet those small steps, when focused on consistently, will eventually yield awesome results.–And I am so excited about this!
The Future in Our Hands 