Not quite the worst year of my life. I think that dubious honor goes to 1991, which started with Iowa losing in the Rose Bowl followed by my father's death. 1992 is close because my great-aunt and grandmother passed away in that year.
I look back over the debris of another year passed and I wasn't the best friend I could have been; the best mother I could have been; the smartest with my money or the best at planning the few things life lets me plan. But I try to live by one overriding principle, "You make the best decisions you can at the time you need to make them." Unfortunately, for me, it seems my "best" decisions are often wrong, or, at least last year, that's what they seemed.
Jessie posted to her blog about New Year's Resolutions. I thought about what I wanted to accomplish this coming year. The usual stuff popped into my head; lose weight, travel, read, get my finances in order, be a better person in whatever manner that takes. But, at some point, I'll fail in my standards of what each of those means and that will set me up for getting down on myself. I know me a wee bit too well.
I thought I could put up things I won't do. That way, I will have kept something. I resolve:
- not to rob a bank this year.
- not to drive my car on the sidewalk.
- not to pick my nose in public.
- not to swim to Michigan from Navy Pier.
- not to skydive off the Hancock Building.
But that sort of defeats the purpose of resolutions. So, I'm going to try to do the following:
- Read a book a month.
- Read a magazine a week.
- Write a friend a real letter once a week.
- Add one more fruit or vegetable to my daily diet.
- Pay off one major credit card this year and not use that card for the remainder of the year.
- Try, in one month, to pay for everything I might need or want, excepting gas, with cash.
- And, most importantly, not get down on myself when I fail to do one of the above.
The last one is going to be the hardest to keep.
Beverage: Assam
Deb
These are great ideas!! I will never understand what it is about a new year that makes us all motivated ... and then how it dies a few weeks later. One of life's great mysteries. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think it's rooted in the public school grading period - you think you've been evaluated (or done the evaluating) for the previous year and now it's time to turn the corner, when you could have started turning the corner at any time anyway, no need to wait for an arbitrary day.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look back over last year - even though i've been depressed about the getting laid off twice thing - it's been a pretty good year in spite of that. Although I'm going to try to keep up with at least the wii fit now that we have one and see if I can't drop some of the weight. But I really don't see the need in myself to make any sweeping changes. Life's a performance, like you said, you make the decisions as they come up and you move along -- the best we can do after that is learn from our mistakes.