“From now on I’m gonna be, the kind of person I’d want my daughter to be.”
These words were taken right out of a Jewel song and will be my theme for 2009. As my fiancé and I share this amazing life we have built together, we are always planning for the future. We certainly embrace every part of today and savor every aspect, every minute of our lives at the present time; however, there is always a part of us that is looking forward to the future, looking forward to when we have a baby. We both feel that children simply make life better, the best actually, because there is nothing better than family.
As we look forward to embarking on this new chapter of our life as husband and wife (in two months!!), we took the opportunity to use the New Year as a time to make resolutions together- as a couple. I know what you are probably thinking – we’ll go to the gym, eat better, drink more water, never get behind on laundry, (these all go without saying, right?). However, we decided that we are going to be better people. Better humanitarians. We need to be the kind of people that we want to raise our children to be. You know what they say – you are the company that you keep.
Here are some of the things that Patrick and I will do to be stronger as a couple and be the best people we can be in 2009 and there after.
1. Always think positively and focus on the good
2. Foster forgiveness (from what I hear this is a key component in any marriage)
3. Partake in one philanthropic activity per month
4. Eat at the dinner table together at least 4 times per week
5. No bad language (this has never been a problem for me!)
6. Spend more time together participating in activities that we both enjoy (cooking, swimming, gardening, basketball, walking our dog, etc.)
7. Read more
8. Incorporate religious faith into our life
9. The Golden Rule – treat each other as you would want to be treated (easy!!)
10. Always remember how lucky we are and cultivate gratitude every step of the way
This is kind of like pre-work for when we do have a family and we are coming up with our Family Mission Statement. We want to be the kind of people we hope to raise our future children to be. When you started thinking about having a family, were there certain things that you wanted to change about your lifestyle? I would love to hear!
Image attribution to “Wordle” http://www.wordle.net/
