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I’m sure it was innocent enough when my buddy Stephanie posted the question on Facebook asking people who made resolutions how it was going.
I decided to be honest for a second and admit that not only did I have more than 30 resolutions on my “list,” I’d just added another one. And actually I’ve added another one since then, though I’ve written neither down.
Sounds crazy, right? Is crazy, actually, but then I realized my list isn’t really a list of resolutions. It’s more like a to-do list for the year. It’s things I want to focus on that I hope will make my year better.
It’s concrete stuff: eating better, getting the house more organized. It’s stimulating stuff: reading more, and, my newest addition, writing more (I want to try to write a poem or a bit of fiction every day, and I’m on day three of that one). It’s deep stuff: being a better wife and friend.
But it’s all important stuff, and it’s all stuff that, if I can manage to remain dedicated to it throughout the year, will make me healthier, happier, saner. It will mean that I’ve had more fun, more new experiences and learned more in 2012 than I did in 2011. And all of that’s good.
Even if a 33-item resolutions list is a little insane.
So How Is it Going?
That said, there are still things on here that I can chart my progress on. For instance, I want to read at least 12 works of actual literature this year, and I haven’t started that yet (still trying to finish A Clash of Kings, though I’m pretty close). I’m doing better with snacking less, and working out more (that means at all) than I was before the turn of the calendar.
One of my goals in the vein of being a better friend was to contact someone at least once a week, whether by writing on their Facebook wall or sending them a note. I’m doing well on that; it’s easy and fun and makes me feel connected to people I never (or hardly ever) see. It takes so little effort but still is something I was never doing.
Let’s see, what else? I’m working on my house stuff, 15 minutes at a time, and am doing that consistently. After a binge on the clearance racks at Target, I’m trying not to buy so much stuff. I’m letting two magazine subscriptions lapse and am thinking about other ones. I’m making good progress on cleaning up my e-mail accounts (including the one for this page, which I hadn’t looked at in more than a year and contained more than 15,000 messages, maybe two of which were of any value at all).
I’m thinking hard about some of them: purging books, being more fashionable. And I have plans to work on one (group crafting) next week. I’d say I’ve touched about half of the list so far, and I’m not willing to abandon any of them yet. So that sounds pretty good.
One thing I’ve done that I think is helping, too, is that the list is on my desk, right in front of me. I see it every day. I’m reminded just sitting here of all the things I want. And as I go through my new routine, with time carved out for cleaning, exercise and e-mail cleanup, I think about the other things I intend to do this year, too, and I think that’ll keep me on track.
How about you? Any resolutions you’re sticking to?
