I know. Pointless, right?
Wrong.
I make resolutions every year. Yeah it’s kinda ridiculous to make life changing proclamations based on the season but *fortunately* I’m consistent in my madness: I clean in the spring though my house could certainly benefit from it more often. I pummel my body into better shape for the summer though I chastise myself for not maintaining the discipline year round. In autumn I can vegetables though, thanks to the miracle of modern science, they are available [relatively] fresh or frozen all year long. So it only makes sense that I make resolutions to welcome in the new year though I should make a concerted effort to improve myself whenever I find myself lacking regardless of the earth’s orientation to the sun.
Without further ado, My New Year’s Resolutions:
Write. Write well and more, sure but in the end: just write.
That’s all. Overall, I’m fairly happy with my life. I eat well and exercise. I floss. I rarely exceed the speed limit and I swear I’m gonna vote.*
So…yeah, write. That’s it. The end.
*If I can’t find a candidate I’d marry [sometimes the ultimate deciduous factor] I’d be happy settling for one I don’t want to bury.
Celebrate responsibly and I'll see ya' next year!
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14 comments:
I wrote about this on my own blog. I don't make resolutions per se, just set goals - which can be reset as needed as I go along. One of my goals is the same as yours - I want to write and write well. The rest will sort itself out :)
Happy New Year!
Like Jenyfer, I don't make resolutions but rather set goals. Good luck with yours. :-)
Resolutions and goals are the same thing. Goals just don't have "New Years" in front of them. Last year, I made two New Year's Resolutions. One was to lose 100 LB. I lost 74 LB. I also had 4 unexpected hospital stays, and hit a few plateaus with the weight loss. I may not have reached my "goal", but keeping the resolution before me all year helped me overall. I don't consider myself a failure for not losing the other 26 LB. That is this year's goal.
Getting out of debt is another common dream for most people, myself included. Sometimes having unexpected things happen mess up your budget planning--4 hospital stays for me and 1 for my husband. All of these were unexpected. (Yes we have "good" insurance, but it does not pay 100% of the bill. I don't see how any of these hospital stays could have been avoided. We see physicians regularly for checkups and have flu shots, and all that. None were related to accidents. I found out that I have Congestive Heart Failure, which came as a total shock to me--I was having difficulty breathing (couldn't sigh or yawn) and thought I had pneumonia. Boy, was I surprised to learn my heart worked 1/2 as well as it should. I now have a $35.00 defibrillator, so I am running on a battery, like the Energiser Bunny. For weeks, I found myself looking at car ads, trying to see what kind of car I could have bought for 35K. My husband had 4 episodes of severe chest pain. His cholesterol had been high, but had responded to medication and dietary changes, and was normal. His EKG and stress tests were normal. I insisted on a cardiac catherization, and he had 95% blockage in the three largest heart arteries, and 70-75% in several others. He had to stop working (at his job) immediately for bypass surgery, followed by a two month period of rest at home. That was two months without any income, since he doesn't have short term disability insurance.
As for writing, last year's goal was to write a book. I did not finish it. I became frustrated. My writing wasn't even. My plot got away from me. I had an outline to use as a guide, but found myself wandering around in the wilderness--wondering what to do about it. So I started reading some of your web sites, and learned this is common, and there is a great deal of rewriting to do, in most cases.
I remember my senior year in high school. We were required to write an essay every day (and turn it in.) I eventually got to where my first draft was good enough to be my final draft. Although that has been many years ago, I was still surprised that I couldn't just sit down and type out a novel. Sometimes (often) the goals we don't reach were too unrealistic, from the beginning. Sometimes unexpected things happen.
What I've learned from all this, is to focus on the positive. Today I have more experience in writing a novel than I did last year at this time. I still have a good idea, and can start again. If I only write one page a day, this time next year, I will have 365 pages completed. That is a more realistic goal, for me.
My husband and I did not die. He can return to work January 2nd and his job is waiting for him. We are both on the same cardiac diet--we have to eat healthy foods and limit the "goodies"...sugar, salt, fat. This will help me lose the rest of the weight and keep it off. I can keep making budgets, and the bills will get paid. Life is still good, full of surprises, some good, some not so good. But now I can consider myself a survivor. Not a bad outccome from last year's New Year's Resolutions!
--*If I can’t find a candidate I’d marry [sometimes the ultimate deciduous factor] I’d be happy settling for one I don’t want to bury.--
As I continue to hear about all that political mess on tv, I'm gonna keep these words of wisdom in mind! I've never thought about it that way, and should be!
Happy New Year!
I am hoping to clear some clutter out of my house for 2008.
I have never made resolutions. I set goals that have to be attained and am not disappointed that way. Best wishes for a wonderful new year.
I'm very goal-oriented, as well. And thanks to a competitive nature run amok, I usually try like the very devil to do whatever is humanly possible to meet those goals. It helps if the goals are realistic and don't include things that are totally out of my control. Example: I may finish a book within a new genre and submit it, but I have very little control over whether it's acquired--with the exception of writing the best book I can that is.
This year in addition to writing goals I'd like to focus on getting better organized. (I can hear my kids snickering now. I'm still looking for two Christmas gifts I misplaced.)
Have a super and safe New Year everybody!
~Bullet Hole Bacus~
Great blog, Bethany!
I love making resolutions every year, although I don't always keep them.
Now...as for your technique for choosing a candidate, I've definitely gotta try that. lol.
And Anonymous, mega congrats on all that weight loss in 2007! Awesome!!
Faye
Happy New Year Bethany!
I don't make resolutions---I just break them anyway.
best wishes and much success in the new year.
I don't make resolutions. I try to be strongminded with the important matters in life and follow through with commitments and real promises.
Great Post!
Christie Craig
Resolutions were never a priority with me. What was important was following through with my goals and never losing sight of the future. Happy New year and best of luck.
My numero uno goal for 2008? Graduate nursing school without having killed anyone on my clinicals! ;)
Well, you all know my resolution already. Mr. Right, here I come! :)
~Gemma
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