Resolutions

I have never been one to make resolutions.  This is not because I think they can't be wonderful motivation to kick-start your goal, it's just that they never were for me.  I would find myself, all year long, hoping to do the 'standards': lose weight and spend less money....it wasn't just in January.  I, of course, never was able to stick with it.  So, this year I thought that if most people resolve to lose weight, but gain instead, or to spend less money, but in fact, go further in debt, then I am going to make resolutions, anticipating the opposite of desired results.  I resolve to gain weight and spend more money than ever before.  With these goals in mind I will either be able to accomplish the task set before me or miserably fail, either way I can't lose.

This picture of one of my dearest friends, Lynda, and I was taken in 2007.  I will never again be a size 0 or 1 and I have to, somehow, find peace with that!  So, making a resolution to get back down to this size would just be self-torture

This year is different, though, because I really did make a resolution, for the first time ever, on New Year's day that was not a joke, or one that pokes fun at my inability to drop 50 pounds in three weeks...or even 52 weeks.  I hope to (though "hope to" makes it sound like it's more a wish than a plan, but "plan to" makes it sound too rigid for my psyche and I'll rebel against myself...it's a very sad cycle of mind games I play with myself, I know) do three new things each month that I've never done before.  I had to figure out what I thought qualified for "new things" because if I feel like it's a chore and I MUST reach three things each month, I'll catch myself grabbing for anything as the month comes to an end.  I'd say to myself, "I have never tried ABC brand of pasta before this month, but on January 6 I cooked it for my family.  One new thing for the month, CHECK!"  I would, somehow, find myself taking the fun out of my new adventure by being tied to the task of completing three things, I feared.  So, my idea of 'a new thing' is trying a restaurant for the first time, going to an art exhibit (yes, just an art exhibit...not any one, in particular...I've never been an "art exhibit person"), seeing a show I've never seen (not on television, but on stage), picking up a hobby or craft I've never attempted....you get the idea.  I hope to (again, there are the words, "hope to") document my 'monthly three' through scrapbooking, so that at the end of the year, and for years to come, we'll be able to reflect on all the new things we tried....oh, did I mention that this is a family goal I've made?  Ha!  It looks as though my husband doesn't even need to make any resolutions, I've helped him out by including him in this one.  I'm sure he appreciates this. 

January, 2011 New Things:

#1- Start a blog


Happy New Year and May 2011 be the best year ever for you and your family!

                               

Day Two of working on my afghan.  There is progress; it's slow, but steady.