K.I.S.S.

It's pretty much assumed across the world (i.e. my own little corner of our planet) that as the New Year is thrust upon us we will turn inward and look at our lives, the things that were good, the things that were bad, the mistakes we made, and the ways we plan to change them. I hate the practice of making resolutions. I am never able to make it through the month of January with any of them. Trust me, I've tried many of them over the years:

-floss my teeth every night
-go to the gym everyday
-spend less money
-floss my teeth once a week
-go to the gym 3 times a week
-keep my checkbook balanced
-floss my teeth once a month
-walk the kids to and from school everyday
-keep all my reciepts so that I can enter them into the check register every Friday
-floss my teeth the night before I go to the dentist
-walk for 30 minutes every day
-check the bank balance before leaving the house for the day
-try to make it to 2 dentist appointments
-park farther away from the kids school so that I will at least have to walk for more than 1 minute to pick them up after school
-through out the check register and switch to cash
-don't roll my eyes when the dentist tells me I need to floss more
-drink more wine and eat more chocolate in hopes that even though I'm not loosing any weight at least I won't care

See, I am just not good at resolutions. So about 4 years ago I read an article in some magazine about a lady who didn't do resolutions anymore. Instead, she picks a word for the year. It represents an idea or an attitude she wants to hang on to or develop in the coming year. I LOVED this idea. I can't break an idea, it's simply there as a reminder to do better tomorrow.

The first year I savored the idea that I had made no resolution. I didn't pick a word that first year. The second year my band of sisters joined in at the request of our valiant leader, my word was "peace." The third year my word was "loved." Last year I prayed about a word and all I heard from God on the matter was silence, so my word was "quiet." What is my word this year? Simplicity.

I intend to put up signs all over the house that say, KISS. Keep it simple stupid.