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Usually my New Year's Resolutions are about losing weight, completing training, and being successful at work.

But frankly, this has been an incredibly difficult year for me and the people who love me. Although I haven't blogged about it much, I've hurt people in ways I never thought myself capable of.

So this year, I want to focus on my family. Not on being fit, successful at work, or accomplishing goals like running marathons or doing an Ironman.

First, I resolve to chill out. What does this mean?

Well, some days I'm not going to get out of my pajamas. Instead, the whole family can sleep late, play games, watch TV or movies, or do whatever - as long as that 'whatever' is defined by someone other than me. I am going to not plan every minute of every day and pack in as much as I possibly can; instead, I want my husband and kids to teach me how to just go with the flow.

Next, I'm going to stay home more.

We decided not to sell our house, which had been on the market for a month or so this fall. The only thing wrong with our house is our commute; about 45 minutes each way in moderate traffic. We love the house, our neighborhood, the kids' school, our friends, our local shops, and pretty much everything else about where we live. So, I want to embrace it. We live in a great house for entertaining. So I want the family to hang at home and be the house where our friends know they can gather for a casual night of hanging out - both kids and adults.

I want to be less obsessive about training and exercise.

I get into these patterns where I punish myself for eating by exercising more, or I treat myself to extra food by exercising more. I also freak out when I miss a workout or can't "pay it back" for poor eating. I know I drive my family nuts with these habits. But I have to say, since finishing the Ironman, I haven't been particularly diligent about watching what I eat, and I've missed tons of workouts, and my weight is the same. I want to maintain where I am - that means stay fit and healthy - but without being crazy about it.

Finally, I want to constantly remember how blessed I am and how good I have it.

I have more than what I deserve. I get to do things like an Ironman because I have a great job where I earn plenty of money and can easily provide for my family. I worry about what time I need to eat my next sports gel for optimum performance, not when my family will next have food on the table to survive. It's so easy sometimes to get wrapped up in my comfortable world and to develop expectations that I deserve all this, and even more. I don't. But I am incredibly fortunate to have it, and I need to live that way: being thankful daily for the provisions I have, and in turn teaching my children to recognize their fortune and be grateful for it.