2010 was not an easy year. I suspect most of us didn’t have an easy time of it. But I thought I’d reflect a bit on the transformation this year brought.

When the year began, I was working 60 hours a week, weekends, holidays. I was burning myself out but with work I loved (except for that stinking ecommerce inventory). I was still struggling to make ends meet, but I was hopeful that I’d be able to make it all work. I made sacrifices because that’s what you do in that situation. That was my life for the first 8 months of 2010. Work, a couple of hours with my family, more work, 5 hours of sleep, and back to work.

Then it ended. Best thing.

Though I had to hop to get something else right away, things became more sane. Spending 2 weeks in the interim with my son was recuperative in itself. I felt like a mom again instead of a worker bee who also had a kid. Priorities started taking better shape. I don’t really believe that there’s some grand scheme for all of us and that our lives are mapped out. I do believe, however, that when change happens, it opens us up to see new possibilities. We see what was there all along that we were too occupied to acknowledge.

So below is my big 5 list for 2010 of things that I loved about these changes in my life and that I’ll continue to build on in the coming year.

1. I get to spend more time with my family. My son is growing fast. Plus he’s just an amazing person. I consider myself so fortunate that he’s a part of my life, and now I get to make that a bigger part. I get to see my husband so much now, he’s probably sick of me.
2. I get to have time to reflect and think, and even read a book (or write a blog). It was hard to remember what downtime was. It’s so nice to be reminded.
3. I now go to yoga, which deserves its own blog post, but for now I will just say that I am so grateful for Bikram Yoga Durham. 90 minutes of intense workout transforms you. The practice teaches you to be in the moment. That is something I still have trouble with. But I’m working on it.
4. I am physically better. I feel better. I’m losing inches and fitting into clothes that I’d had to stash in the attic. My weight hasn’t dropped significantly yet, but I’m getting back into my former shape. I know I’m replacing fat weight with muscle weight, so I’m not too worried about that. For now, I know that there’s a difference that will help me live a better life in all that I do.
5. I am learning to have me time. This is so hard for women to do. Walk out of the house without the kid, without the husband. Just you. Not running errands. Doing something for you. Oh, so unimaginable before. But it is so true that you absolutely must take care of yourself because if you can’t, you can’t take care of anyone else. This is a difficult lesson that sounds good in a Woman’s Day ad, but is so hard to believe. Until you’re doing it.

If something isn’t working out for you, look for what you can do to change it. And if change comes along that you didn’t want or plan on, embrace it and see where it could lead you. It might end up being just what you needed or better than anything you could have planned for yourself. The more we get set in a pattern, the more difficult it is to look for opportunities or see that we could have something more, better. I’m grateful for the year that I’ve had and am optimistic that 2011 will be my year.

Tell me about your 2010 transformation in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

Tags: 2010 list, career, changes, parenting, transformation, yoga | Category Life in General