Skip to main content

Happy New Year!

The New Year looms around the corner and it's at this time that I look back at the past 12 months to reflect on my life, and ahead, to decide what to improve in the future. I do this every year, and while I have good intentions, I pretty much break every New Year's resolution. I have to ask myself why I set resolutions and why I then proceed to break them.

I'm a reflective perfectionist so it is my nature to obsess about what I did wrong and how to fix it. I recently read in (the scholarly journal) Real Simple about rumination- when one fixates on something very small, stresses out about it and makes it a bigger deal than it really is. Well, my middle name might as well be Ruminate. I am so good at it! Since I'm also very moody and sensitive, I strive to make every interaction, with every person I encounter, perfect. To err is human, and I'm often a big mouth fool so 2/3 of the time, I screw up and then I feel terrible for like, um, a year, or longer. Setting goals is a way for me to put a positive spin on my foolishness and to appease my rumination. So, I screwed up royally on that, with that person, because I did x, y, z this year, but there's always next year! I can do better, with everything, during the next twelve months.

And this is the answer, my friends, to the second part of my question. Why do I break the promises I set for myself? Because I am not perfect. I don't fail because I set unrealistic goals for myself. I don't fail because I'm lazy or afraid. I don't keep all of my promises, or accomplish all of my goals, because I get distracted. With each new day of the new year comes another blunder another flub and another reason to try harder the next day, the next month and the next year. It's hard, in January, to know what I'll need to fix by November.

Now,now, I'm not looking for reasons for you to email or FB message me to tell me that I'm not as much of a fool as I make myself out to be or that I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I don't mean to be my own harsh critic. I'm pretty sure you may feel this way about your own resolution setting process. Or maybe you do think I'm a fool and you meet all of your yearly goals. Well, good for you and mea culpa for me.

Let's get on with the show! Please enjoy this list of New Year's resolutions that I will not accomplish (at least not intentionally) by this time next year!
1. drink more water
2. cook more real food for myself and my family
3. stress less about driving in the snow
4. do more yoga
5. run in a road race of significant distance
6. wear more sunblock
7. spend less time on facebook
8. get published
9. get my scrapbooking up-to-date
10. lay on a beach in a bikini

There they are. Some very superficial goals that really don't reflect the true improvements I need to make this year but just maybe I can check a few of these off my list while I go about my day as a bumbling, average erring human. Happy Holidays, New Year and goal setting to all of my readers!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tips for Transitioning to Back-To-School Time

Transitions can be hard for kids with special needs, making the back-to-school schedule particularly challenging for them and their families. Here are some tips for making that transition, and first few months of the fall, easier for everyone. Map out a Schedule and Reduce Anxiety While no kid wants to start talking about going back to school when he or she is still enjoying their summer vacation, it’s important to reduce anxiety by starting to talk about what the back-to-school schedule is going to look like. While this could mean creating a visual schedule or developing a calendar, it’s important to talk with your child about what the back-to-school schedule is going to look like, including wake up time, what happens during the day, after school, right up until bedtime. Developing a schedule can hopefully alleviate some of your child's stress about what to expect during the transition and can also open up a dialogue for what questions and concerns your child has. Have your chil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflections on Summer with the Girls

I've been thinking all week long about how to summarize my summer home with the girls. For me, one who is never short on words, I just can't quite figure out how to explain the last eight weeks.A poem, or two, perhaps? How quickly work fades/When two little faces smile./Can I stop time, please? A real summer here,/Made for easy days at lake./Everyone is tan. Three mile point love./Makes winters here easier./Beautiful upstate. Caro is a fish./Handstands, front crawl, doggy paddle./So proud of my girl. Char pees on the pot/sometimes but not every time./She gets candy, yay! Oh Canada trip./Thank you to Grams and Opa./Memories for life. Visits with Nana./Got in the lake, yes she did!/So proud of her, too! Days spent with good friends./Playing is so tiring./Let it never end. Me: stay at home mom./Borderline insanity./Hardest job ever. In trying to draft something for this post, I looked back at my posts from last year at this time and I felt relief. Well, first, ...
1 comment
Read more

Somebody Who Matters

At first glance, one may not think that my mom and I are alike. Moe is shy and reserved. She's calm and thoughtful. She's a good listener and keeps things to herself. She's grounded and sensible. She's practical. You may be laughing now if you know me. I'm loud and outspoken. I'm dramatic and irrational. I talk too much and share too much. My head is often in the clouds and I lack common sense. I 'm a dreamer. How did this kid come from that mom? Well, if you know me, you also know that my mom has had the greatest impact on me and that we are actually very much alike. For example, Moe isn't really shy or reserved. She's just waiting for the right time to tell you what she thinks and you're going to hear it whether or not you like it. She uses the F-bomb freely, and sometimes inappropriately. In her own right, she is a feminist. She's a loyal friend. She's the family organizer. She has a quirky sense of humor and knows not to take hersel...
Post a Comment
Read more