My New-Found Resolve

As people around the country are making their 2010 resolutions (and making every effort not to break them in the first week of this shiny new decade), I've decided to broaden my scope. Sure, I'd love to lose weight and make more money and find love and get out of debt; that's nothing new. And to place so many expectations on something as arbitrary as the dawn of a new year seems a little ludicrous-- I think I'd only be setting myself up for failure. So I've instead resolved to change my circumstances, by making smaller changes that will (hopefully) have a larger impact, in hopes of striking a better balance in my life. The plan is simple enough, and I have a sneaking suspicion that, once this balance is achieved, all my hopes and dreams will just fall into place behind it, like ducks in a row.

For starters, I hope to strike a better balance between work and play. I won't beat myself up for not managing to cross off everything on my ambitious to-do lists at the end of each day, because all work and no play makes... well, you know. Once I know all my commitments for spring semester, I plan to schedule one day of rest, and quit trying to work around the clock-- even God took a day off now and then! Some of the specific things I plan to strive for in my quest for this balance include:

• Practicing and/or working out six days a week. There aren't always enough hours in the day to do both, and that's not my fault! See above for my plans for day seven.
• Make more time for social activities. That one will be easy and fun! I've already got a number of things planned for this month, so I'm off to a good start.
• Write more. I want to update my blogs once a week (at least) and submit more articles for possible publication. You can help me on this one-- keep reading, and I'll keep writing!
• Read one book a month. I used to read voraciously, and got out of the habit in grad school (a.k.a. when I started trying to build Rome in a day)... I miss it, and think one book a month is a completely reasonable goal.
• Continue with my recipe-a-week resolution from 2009. Not all of the recipes I tried were winners, but I enjoyed it enough that I'd like to continue filling my recipe box!

The other area of my life that needs reconciling is the way I interact with others, or (more specifically) the experiences and encounters I have with (and because of) the people around me. I need to get better at holding my ground without backing down or losing my temper, and to rid my life of the people and relationships that are weighing me down (literally and figuratively). To accomplish this, I plan to surround myself with more positive people and experiences by:

• Reconnecting with good friends who I've lost touch with over the years.
• Letting go of past hurts and old grudges.
• Distancing myself from people who drag me down.
• Stop investing time and effort into one-sided friendships.
• Learning to say "no" more often. (I've already gotten a good jump on this one, too!)

So there you have it. My new-found resolve. Is it an ambitious list? Of course! Can I accomplish everything I'm setting out to do? Only time will tell. But for now, I'm leaving the messes of 2009 in the past where they belong, and looking ahead to a bright new year, where the misadventures of my life are yet to be written. Happy new year one and all!