Sometimes, when I ask people if they make new year’s resolutions, I get a sideways glance. Pfft, no. “I never keep them, so what’s the point?”
Well, for me, the point is to commit to a small number of tasks for an entire year. I don’t take on resolutions as a monumental life change, wherein if I bite off one fingernail, all is lost. My resolutions are more like yearlong challenges that I can attempt all the time. The resolution lasts for one year, and then I can try to keep going, modify the goal, or discard it.
I imagine that I’m more meticulous than the average resolve-er, and my resolutions always come with timelines. Two years ago, I failed miserably at reading four books every month. The first month that I didn’t accomplish it, I didn’t just throw in the towel; the next month was upon me! Time to step it up, self! I am not naturally an optimistic person, but I am also masochistic in my perseverance in painful experiences, so dividing the time helps trick my psyche into thinking, Hey, this isn’t so bad.
That’s not to say that keeping resolutions is all drudgery. Although I prefer having goals that I can measure and realistically attain (nothing like “be more relaxed” or “exercise every morning” resolutions for me), I want to challenge myself just enough to stretch, but not enough for looming failure the whole year long, if that makes sense. Ultimately, I aim to improve myself and elicit some enjoyment therein. As a result of making resolutions for the past two years, I’m reading more books, cooking more often, and drinking less soda, so what’s so bad about that?
For 2009, I’m instating three time-based challenges:
Every day, I will clean for 15 minutes.
I am not a good housekeeper, but I always waved it off by saying how I love a clean house, but it’s too bad I hate to clean it. Witty, huh? And yet, I always get annoyed when I hear people say how they really need to stick to a budget, but — whoops! — where is all the money at the end of the month? No more excuses for me. In an effort to become more aware of the clutter around me and make a habit of dealing with it, I’m setting a timer for 15 minutes every day to take care of tasks like dusting, filing, and stove-scrubbing. If I am away from the house for a whole day or more, I want to make up the time retrospectively or bank it up in advance. This resolution would probably be a breeze for other people, but I am most worried about it because it won’t let up.
Every week, I will write and send my grandmother a note.
One time, I sent my grandmother, my sole remaining grandparent, snapshots of a vacation JG and I took. She was so pleased that she called to thank me, and I realized that we see her very rarely, and I don’t do a good job with calling her just to say hi. So, as part of my grandmother’s Christmas present this year, I made a membership card to the “Letter of the Week Club.” I have a stockpile of blank cards, and writing a small note will take me a maximum of ten minutes. I figure that I can send her postcards when we’re away and pictures of whatever’s going on as I get prints. In my mind, I want to set aside little anecdotes to write, and that way, keep my grandmother on my mind.
Every month, I will take at least a few hours just for myself.
I know, I have no kids, a cushy 9-5 job, and enough leisure time to watch an inordinate amount of television, so what’s the problem? I’ve found that if I don’t set myself apart physically from the house, the dog, and yes, even JG, my mind finds new to-do lists to make and agendas to confirm. If I set aside an afternoon to walk around town or read by myself, I think I’ll be less likely to feel strained throughout the normal routine.
I also have a couple of short-term goals that I want to accomplish during this year:
- Train for and run in two 5Ks
- Use up the vast majority of the produce we receive from the CSA share we purchased (I am scared to commit to “all the produce” because we are CSA rookies)
At the end of 2009, I hope to have a cleaner house, a stronger relationship with my grandmother, less mental strain, consistent running motivation, and a greater knowledge of how to prepare vegetables. See, when I look at it that way, it seems all very unreachable, but when I slice it up into smaller pieces, I think I can manage it.
Onward and upward!
14 comments
I feel the same way about cleaning. I just hate it, but I also hate a messy house. I tried the cleaning for 15 minutes a day deal this summer. You will be amazed at just how much cleaning you can do in 15 minutes! I really should start that up again…
This was our second year in our co-op and we still struggled with using it all. Hopefully the fact that we will have baby food to make this year will make us use everything up.
I used to clean religiously every Thursday for an hour….before we had a child (and another on the way). I’m a total slacker now, sadly. Your idea of sending notes to your Grandmother is so sweet. We love getting letters from Mr. J.’s Grandma and enjoy trying to keep her uptodate on our lives too – although not likely as often as we should.
You are so lucky to be able to participate in a CSA. We didn’t do that this year because of being gone over the best two weeks of harvest up here and won’t this year because of….things I can’t talk about, but it’s such a great concept and way to try new things. I came across this neat veggie recipe concept on another blog (sorry the link is so long): http://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Box-Keda-Black/dp/0600619052/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226622938&sr=8-1
Good for you! I love seeing what kind of goals other people have made. And I’m always surprised by how many people turn up their nose at new resolutions/goals (I guess it’s been magnified by reading blogs this year).
Ok, I must admit that I’m totally and completely obsessed with your recipes. I’m honestly going to try to start cooking more often (I’m new at this so it might take me some time!) and heathier. Thank you for being the inspiration to getting me started!
I need to write to my relatives more too. Except for my immediate family, every one of my relatives live in England and apart from Christmas and bithdays, I don’t really keep in contact. I need to do that more.
I really love making resolutions – I have a similar attitude as yours, but without any pressure. If I don’t accomplish a resolution one year, it goes back on the list for the next – and it’s amazing to me that I actually have resolved them in subsequent years sometimes. I suppose my first resolution for 2009 should be to figure out how to log into my blog again (since it randomly won’t let me do this) so that I can post the rest of my resolutions.
Oh, PS – I’m going to borrow from your write-grandma-a-letter-a-week resolution and adapt to call or write my Aunt Jane once a week! (she’s not really my aunt, is more like a grandma, etc etc).
Way to persevere with your resolutions last year!
My in-laws take part in a CSA share and they get some funky vegetables, especially in the winter. But don’t fret, the benefit of all the fresh produce in the summer makes the share worthwhile! If you find good recipes for the obscure things you get, let me know. My MIL would love some ideas on how to work with things like celeryac, haha.
You’ve already impressed me with your using a CSA- I tried it once and I couldn’t even use half of it! Maybe your perseverance will be an inspiration for me to try again.
We don’t have a CSA around here, but we will be visiting the Farmer’s Market much more often.
Because we are kindred spreadsheet souls, I am sharing a website I just found: http://www.springpadit.com/
I really like the “membership to the letter a week club.” I’m sure my grandmother would adore that as well. I may have to take a page (or a notecard in this case) from your book.
I love the stamps-from-grandmother. My husband’s aunt gives him stamps instead of a $10 check each year on his birthday, and it’s a welcome gift.
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