New Year's Un-Resolutions

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions as a rule. I tend to make myself a slew of promises, feel guilty when I don’t follow through on them, and then abandon them sometime in February (who am I kidding, I don’t usually even make it that long)!

            However, I am also an eternal optimist. I love the idea of starting fresh and improving myself and the world around me. I can’t entirely disregard the tradition, but I can’t justify writing myself a list of tasks for the year ahead. That being said, I’m going to write a list of un-resolutions that I hope to valiantly attempt to incorporate into my life. These are my aspirations for the year, hopefully to improve myself and become happier, healthier, and more in touch with my family. I choose not to make them as a promise, but as a hope and desire to make them a part of my everyday life, a desire to improve myself permanently and not just for a few months.

1)    Be Healthier. Rather than pledging to lose 20 pounds or eliminate carbs, I want to be more mindful of my overall health and well-being. I want to eat better, get more quality sleep and exercise more. I hope this will make me more rested, even-tempered, give me more energy, and if it has the added bonus of losing a few extra pounds, great!

2)    Take joy from the Little Things. It is easy to get caught up in all the demands of life. I tend to get overwhelmed with responsibilities and spend too much time trying to check items off of an imaginary list. This year, I want to make a conscious effort to slow down and notice the feel of spring rain on my skin, the scent of the flowers in my flower bed, savor the hugs of those I love, listen more and indulge the art of conversation without rushing through it to the next item on my list.

3)    Spend Quality Time with my family. My son is only going to be young once. I would like to try to remember to get down on the floor and play games, look beyond the mess, enjoy the insights he chooses to share with me, and indulge the childhood whims he imagines—within reason, of course.

4)    Disconnect from Social Media more often. Rather than compare my life to others through a screen, I would like to make time to get coffee with a friend, or take a walk in the woods. The amount of time and energy I spend online could be channeled into more productive and fulfilling activities that feed my soul.

5)    Read more. There are so many books I want to read, I need to spend more time with my to-be-read pile and less time watching TV.

6)    Write more. I never write enough. If I cut back on social media time and TV watching time, I’ll have much more free time to dedicate to writing. I need to devote more time to it, because I always feel better after I’ve completed a piece, whether it’s short or long, so I need to make an effort to spend more time on it.

I will have to start small. This list is not something I can accomplish all at once, but hopefully, over time, with small changes, I can improve myself and my life for the long-term. It’s a grand plan, it may not be something I can accomplish, but I intend to give it a shot and see how it affects my daily life and relationships.