I’m sitting in a quiet house, a rare occurrence these days. Our children, still small, are both finally asleep, for now, before we begin a night of what we jokingly refer to as “musical beds.” My husband started a fire in the fireplace before he went to check on an issue at work, and here I sit—in almost absolute silence, except for the sound of a crackling fire on this cold January night. As I sit here, my thoughts have drifted to the ending of one year and the beginning of another. In the spirit of the New Year, here are a few things I’m going to pay attention to this year.

This year, I want my motto to be “Look at all the life!” and LIVE and LOVE:

With Full Hands. This year, I want look at all the life around me but I want to honor my full hands. I’ve been thinking a lot about being busy and how people sometimes proudly wear that as a badge. "I'm so busy" is often our excuse, or other times, it's "I wish I weren't so busy," said in a disdainful tone. I've filled my life with so much and it's overflowing, in mostly good ways, but in some ways that require evaluation because my hands are FULL, wonderfully but sometimes exasperatingly full. From now on, I'm going to do my very best to say "My hands are full" when I can't add another thing. They're full with all I've been lucky enough to gather. I'm not busy; my hands are full of things I've chosen to hold. And maybe I need to be more selective about what I choose to hold onto. So this year, I’m going to remember I have a choice with what I choose to hold-- maybe not in all ways, but certainly in some.

By Reaching for the Sun. I mother my children and while I don't do a perfect job, they are my focus. I mother them and I try to do my best, but I want to try harder to mother my own spirit while I mother my children. I want to mother my spirit and follow its lead. Because after all, if I don’t teach my children and show them to reach for the sun, who will? My children have actually called me to remember who I was long ago, way before they were even a thought in my mind. They’ve provided clarity to me in ways I never imagined and called me to question and re-remember my own dreams, buried from long ago. That farm I always wanted—at the end of a tree-lined drive? Those children’s books sitting on my computer? Ireland, so green? I’m reaching, reaching, reaching. Reach with me and let’s show our kids the way.

Look at all the life, my friends, waiting for us.

This post originally appeared on Kara's blog.. Come, be in here tribe on Facebook or on Mothering the Divide.