Resolutions...Challenges.....

Resolutions...
I have been pondering on what my resolutions will be for the new year.  At the end of 2011 I made a few personal resolutions and so far, have held true to them.  I want to expand my horizons a bit and in the meantime increase my knowledge of certain subjects, in addition, possibly go back to school.  I'm hoping to travel this year, with my most desirable destination being California.  I definitely want to expose my son to many new adventures and experiences as well.  Of all the things I am considering, really the only actual resolution I am making is to spend more time with my family, mainly my brother in North Carolina, my aunt and dad.  As much as I love technology and the expansions it allows me to "see" my family and friends....what happened to good ole family reunions in the park?  I have gotten lazy, depending on texts and emails and facebook to see what my family is up to, that actual face time is few and far between.  I am blessed to have most of my family relatively close in distance.  So, I'm not letting myself make excuses in the future where that is concerned.

Challenges....
I challenged myself during the month of November by posting, each day, things that I am thankful for...and I was successful in doing that. Along the same lines as that, I am challenging myself to read a "classic" book each month.  I tried googling a list of the top ten classic books of all time.  Of the several lists I looked at, they all had different books on them, apparently beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.  I remember seeing a shelf of classic books at Barnes & Noble while Christmas shopping, so I think I am going to start there first.  Some of the books I had already read in school, but how much do you really read a book when you are required to?  I'm hoping that reading some of these classic novels will help guide me in my writing endeavors.  At the suggestion of my brother, I am currently reading "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  So far so good, so I might be adding some self improvement books to my list as well.

At this point in my life I am discovering that there is always room to grow, you should always want to improve yourself, not only for yourself but for all the others in the world that have to encounter you as well!