We interrupt this regularly scheduled vacation for a dose of reality otherwise known as resolutions for the new year. I do this every year and every July 1 birthday in between. Some resolutions I keep better than others. The first real "this is a resolution I am making" resolution I made as an adult was to get the laundry put away every night. I've kept this up for at least two decades now. Oh, if they were all so easy to keep.
Back in 2014, before my first torn rotator cuff flared up, I was in better physical condition than I had ever been. I was doing okay working my way back into decent shape when 2016's second torn rotator cuff appeared. Damn! Okay, I can come back from that one and, silly me!, the pain in my right knee got so intense that only a replacement would help. Approaching nine months later, and I'm still in close to the worst physical condition I've been in as an adult. I start to work on coming back, and my too competitive nature bites me in the ass and things other than the knee start to hurt. Resolution Number One (the biggie) then is to get back into some sort of reasonable shape and to do so without hurting myself further. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I'll get there.
Next, I find myself bumbling from one art thing to another to a third and so on. I'd like to do or finish one project each month. This could be start from scratch and finish it, or it could be finish something I started whenever. I already know what the first two are going to be. I have two quilts to get ready for the guild's show in April, and I have someone emailing me monthly about a needle felted possum I'm supposedly working on to replace the one my cat tore to shreds. If I can get one similar to the original made, this person would like to buy one.
Each year I score some extra money by completing challenges in one of the university's wellness programs. I already know what my goals for 2019 will be, so the resolution is to keep them going and get the monetary reward at the end of the year. This year's goals include an exercise program of cardio and strength training balanced by meditating 20 minutes once each day. The way the goals are set, I won't necessarily be doing those every day but would instead do them at least a certain number of times each month.
Tying back into the whole physical stuff, injuries, etc. I want to work on going at my own pace. I'm the kind of person who feels she needs to speed up if the person behind her wants to walk faster. My problem with walking faster is of course, that the knee tightens up, or I don't pick up one foot or the other and trip, or otherwise suffer negative consequences. So this year I want to work on being comfortable with how slow or fast I should be doing things, and not let myself get caught trying to keep up with anyone else.
Finally (I had to end this list sooner or later after all), I want to waste less time. This has relevance because wasting time helped me, a few years ago, talk to my doc and finally get on some anti-depressants. Playing spider solitaire or another computer game for most of each day (seriously, hours) was not what I needed to be doing, and it took a while to admit that. I now have no games on my computer or phone other than the NY Times crossword on my phone and an Australian cryptic crossword on my laptop. Still, I find myself doing old crosswords or, possibly worse, spending too much time on social media. If all the people I want to stay in touch with were on one social media outlet or another, I could just quit all the rest. But some friends are on Facebook while others are on Instagram, and even others, well, you get the idea. I feel the need to visit each outlet to keep up with one friend or another. I may let myself look at a particular social media site once daily or for some total minutes each day. As with getting into better physical shape, I'm still working on the details.
So, lots of things to work on. Some will be easy; some won't. Some will get done; some may not get started if I want to be honest with myself. Writing them down helps, and making them public helps a little bit more. I'll check in with myself on July 1, and see how I'm doing.
And so Happy New Year! May 2019 be a good one for all of us.
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