Have a blessed and blissful New Year in 2013!

It’s New Year’s Eve. Are you excited?

I am, even though this day has always been somewhat bittersweet for me. I’ve shared before about how I deal with post-Christmas blues, and saying goodbye to the year that was has always been somewhat similar.

But not this year.

Somehow, this New Year’s Eve is different, as if I’m on a brink of opening a belated Christmas present.

I have already written about my 2012 highlights and plans for 2013: A new blog for WAHMs, a new string of workshops to look forward to, and other life list plans in the mix. Yes, the next year is filled with so much potential for growth, change, and new beginnings.

Today, on the eve of the new year, my prayer for you all, dear moms and readers, is that you will commit to finding your bliss in the coming year.

What do I mean by that exactly?

Well, we as moms tend to take the back seat at times when it comes to doing what we really want to do. And that’s perfectly fine, because, well, moms are like that! It’s a good thing; however, being sacrificial and doing “what’s best for the family” may put a stopper to our own goals as women, as individuals.

Consider what Melody Beattie says in The Language of Letting Go:

“Make New Year’s goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come. Goals give us direction. They put a powerful force into play on a universal, conscious, and subconscious level. Goals give our life direction.”

If there’s one thing I am this New Year’s Eve, it’s excited. I’m excited to check off more things on that life list of mine. I’m excitedly hoping I get pregnant this year. (Yes, stay tuned to my blog, so you’ll be the first to know if and when that happens.) I’m excited to say goodbye to the old year and welcome a new one in.

So, how about it? How about we go for a few goals this year? Not resolutions: goals. Specific, actionable, achievable goals that we can work on so that we can look back on New Year’s Eve 2013 and say, “Well, that was an awesome year.”

Maybe this sounds frivolous to a few, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a mom — as a woman — in 2012, it’s to not let anything stop you from doing what makes you happy. When you are happy, your family is happy.

Also, don’t let your past failures define you. As one of my favorite authors John Maxwell says, “fail forward.” Sure, I made some mistakes, and maybe some errors in judgment in the past year. They happened; so be it. But I’m not going to let these set me back or define me. Maybe something similar happened to you, but know this: Your 2012 setbacks and failures can be your motivators to do better in 2013.

So, cheers to you.

Here’s to a better 2013, to a year of possibilities for you, as a woman, wife, mother. Happy New Year!