Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Obligatory New Year's Post

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions or even New Year's Eve celebrations. But with everything that's happened this past year, I feel the need to post something tinged with resolution... I'll call them goals or plans or maybe just hopeful happenings.

As I said, quite a bit has occurred this past year: I recovered from one injury only to be plagued by another; we celebrated our (you remember Jeff, right? I don't talk about him much on here) third wedding anniversary; my doctor pushed statin medication AGAIN; we got a new cat; I read seventeen books (I'm rather proud!); we said goodbye to cable; we welcomed and said goodbye to others... there's more, but I won't bore you with it all.

So what do I plan to do next year? What do I hope occurs? To make it easy on you, the reader, and myself, the writer, I'm just going create a list. I'm not holding myself to any of it. I've learned not to set myself up for failure, and creating a list of things to do in the new year... for me, it spells failure. So don't hold me to my list. P.S. These "items" are in no particular order other than what occurred to me as I wrote.

1. I want to start working out and eating more healthily again. For me, the two go hand in hand. If I can't workout... well, hello, Mr. Pibb and chocolate ice cream! So it is my hope to slowly but surely get back into the swing of things, even if that means using my Wii Fit. I'd love to jump back on the treadmill, but if I've learned anything from 2012's meniscus sprain and this year's hip bursitis, I need to ease back into exercise because my body isn't as malleable as it was in my teens. Once the workouts become regular and relatively pain-free so to will the ingesting of fruits and veggies. Strawberry season will also help!

I know this goal/plan may seem ridiculously cliche, but being healthy is important. It's especially important when I consider my own and family medical history. It's not about weight or looks. It's about living life to the fullest, feeling great, and living long and well with the one's I love.

2. I hope to complete a rough draft of my scholarly article.

3. I need to learn to let things go. It's trite but necessary. Holding on too tightly to life's and people's bullshit, that at the end of the day doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things, is toxic. I'd like to think I've gotten better at this as the years have progressed, but I know there's still room for improvement. My mom would totally agree. I mean, I'm still struggling to shrug off the whole Duck Dynasty snafu-- not what Phil Robertson said, but how those I know and care about reacted to what he said etc. I shouldn't care, but I do care.

4. I plan to read twenty books in 2014. I hit 17 this year so why not 20 next year? First on my list: Dust by Hugh Howey; second on my list: MaddAddam by Margret Atwood. After that I've got 120 to pick from according to my Goodreads account!

That's pretty much it. I could add other items (something about hiking or improving my craft... or getting that next tattoo!), but why "hold" myself to too strict a list? If I need to do them or improve upon them, I should just do it.

Here's hoping.

No comments:

Post a Comment