This is part of my adventure in giving my monthly resolutions focus through a yearly focus. You can read all of my resolution posts here (scroll down for older posts).

Mental Focus: Clearing the clutter through home organization

I’d like to be getting more done in this area than I am, but I have also accepted that, for me, that’s going to always be the case. 🙂 This month, I’m clearing out our office. It’s a room we use a lot, and one that has never been fully de-cluttered. Last year, when we were done moving our bedroom upstairs to the newly remodeled/dry-walled/insulated part of the house, I made an effort to make the office presentable. There are still boxes in here, though, and there are no pictures hung on the walls.

I’m going to make some tough decisions on the stuff in boxes. This is also the room in the house that will be, for all intents and purposes, the room where I will do my workouts, when I finally start them.

Physical Focus: Getting off my duff

Speaking of workouts, I’ve failed at the physical side of things this year, though not for lack of thinking. Before I could even think about letting go of the neat little plan I had made for the year (because, let’s face it, it’s not working!), I had to forgive myself.

Working out, getting in shape, doing one more thing (and a thing I’m not sure I’ll like!) is a major hurdle for me. I know I NEED to do it. I’m just not sure I WANT to do it.

Thinking about how I’ll approach it, I’ve decided that March is going to be the last month of thinking. This month, I’m going to explore a few options Bob and I have talked about (one of them a membership), and as I work in the office, I’m going to make a space for myself, one that will have a view of a picture or painting or something that will inspire me to go there, every day. I’m also going to research some different types of training/workouts (and if you have recommendations for a total workout dunce, please share!), to put a plan together that will work for me.

My goal is that by the end of the month, I’ll have my answer and also be underway, however slowly, to getting off my duff.

Spiritual Focus: Carving out a classroom of silence for prayer

When my second baby was born, my mornings of silence were shattered for a time. Recently, I’ve reinstated them, and I’m better for it. Then, a week ago, I tried something that was terrifying for me. I made myself sit (timer ticking though out of sight) for ten minutes in silent, mental prayer.

It was, quite possibly, one of the hardest things I’ve done.

Last night, when I gave a talk on peace to our youth group, I shared about this and one of the other moms asked me how I keep the distractions away.

I don’t have a good answer to that. I precede this time with a rosary, and I start off the time by asking God to help me. It’s hard not to have my hands and mind busy. The distractions come and come and come. But as I turn back to God, again and again and again, I can feel the power of the distractions lessening, a little each time. I can feel myself opening, just a bit more, to God.

This month, I’m going to keep exploring that silent time. I’m going to gradually increase it by small factors. It’s been one of the best practices I’ve adopted, and I can see its positive effects throughout my life. The specific way I do it was inspired by what I’ve been reading in Philip Dion’s A Handbook of Spiritual Perfection, which I highly recommend (and which, when I’m finished, I’ll be re-reading again and again).