New Year's Theme

Those of you who have been reading my blog long enough, or who have just known me long enough, know that a few years back, I took up the idea of a yearly theme. This idea, came from my friend Dana, for whom I am very thankful :)
This year, my new theme is a hard one. Not because it is unmanageable, but because it so goea against my natural personality :)

"Cultivating Patience: Every Second Counts".

I have known for a very long time, that patience is NOT one of my virtues. I am just not very good at being patient. I don't like to wait for my watercolour paint to dry. I hate how long it might take me to knit something- and I often make dinner at the last minute. When the kids don't 'get' something (usually something like cleaning up the living room floor), I am forced to bite my tongue, and shamefully, more than once, my patience was gone!
It's not IMPOSSIBLE for me to be patient, just hard. So when I found myself having to learn patience for things recently, or when I found out that patience really paid off, I realised that in there somewhere, was a message.
So I told my friends that I thought 'patience' was my theme. Later that day, I realised that it wasn't JUST patience I needed to learn, but appreciation of time. So often I feel like I have to do it all NOW- well with patience I get to do it all, just not at once :)

So that's my theme for next year. Of course, themes are not finite things. They kind of mingle and meld with the ones that came before, and I think you are supposed to continue improving.
Well- I am improving. This year I did well with beautiful, but simple is a work in progress ;) I managed to make great strides in my theme from last year- Hospitality. But the one from the year before- stewardship- is still eluding me. Somewhat. I did manage to start eating seasonally, and I am constantly tweaking our food to make it healthier! It's the house that needs work :) THAT is where patience comes in- learning these things one at a time, bit by bit...

Anyone else out there with themes to share? :)