Some of you might be saying something about how the new year hasn’t started yet. I get that. Because, technically, it hasn’t. But with the holidays being midweek this year, it has sort of messed things up. I feel like Christmas hardly happened and now it’s as if I’m just holding out (and making bad choices) because the “new year” hasn’t started yet. How ridiculous is that? Why on earth do I need to wait for WEDNESDAY to roll around to get started on my goals for 2014? You know what? I don’t!!!

There are different schools of thought when it comes to new years’ resolutions – some of you might love them while others might think they’re a waste of time. I fall in with the former – I happen to love this time of year. There is something invigorating about all the planning and goal-setting. I get really excited thinking about different areas of my life that I would like to focus on or new goals that I want to work towards. Do I always succeed? Heck no! But that, in my opinion, is no reason to give up or to stop setting goals because along the way it is entirely possible to discover something new or do something great and I don’t want to miss that chance.

My husband and I were looking back at some goals from last year and he was laughing a little bit because we didn’t nail them 100%. Or even get all that close to be perfectly honest. But here’s my take on it…there were a couple things on my list that I’m pretty sure my subconscious was working on. I remembered writing them down and sometimes things would pop up (like a magazine article or something someone would say) that would remind me of these goals, but I didn’t always know what form they would take. One, for example, was this idea I had. I called it Paleo Mish. I wanted to be more consistent with following a Paleo lifestyle because I recognized that it made me feel better. Another thing on my list was to stop being afraid. When those two came together, this blog was formed. Creating a blog was not one of my goals, but it turned out to be one of my best decisions for many, many reasons.

So here’s my plan: MY new year will begin TODAY! I have some goals set, some planning done, some wishes released into the atmosphere, and I am ready to begin 2014. I’m excited to start my journey this year. I have lots of ideas but I haven’t written the ending because I don’t want to box it in just yet. I can tell you, though, that there is passion and joy, connectedness and love, strength and courage, and a dash of adventure.

The new year is the one time when I throw balance to the wind. Instead I lean heavily on the side of growth and stretching and dreams and wishes. Put it out there and see just how far it can go. This year is going to be magnificent! And I truly, sincerely hope yours is too!

Before I go, I’d like to share something with you that my sister told me about. She spent Christmas with her boyfriend’s family in Poland this year and they have a tradition of going around the room and expressing wishes to each person for good things in the coming year. I find the gift of wishes so beautiful that I would like to share mine for you: that your year is filled with passion, joy, and love, that you live vibrantly and healthfully, that you experience new flavors and new foods, that you find excitement and commitment to your goals.  Thank you all so much for following Balancing Paleo!

I have just two final questions for you…Are you making any new year’s resolutions? And what would happen if you started your new year today?