Tuesday, January 29, 2013

A Not-So-New-Year Resolution

It’s been a long time since I wrote which is both a good and a bad thing. Thanks to the holidays and some crazy, elusive illness my entire family had, I haven’t been really motivated to do anything after work. My evenings consisted mostly of finding something for dinner and distracting myself with computer games and ABC Family movie marathons until I got enough energy to move from the couch to the bed.

Thankfully, four weeks later, I’m finally feeling better and feeling the pressure from the creative side of my brain. This hiatus from blogging was also a good thing because I wasn’t looking at every situation as a “blog experience” and could, for a while, live in the moment. Now if only I could find a way to separate myself from tweeting and Facebooking every memorable quote of my evenings.

It being the New Year, it only makes sense to do a resolution post. I’m only 28 days late and when I think about it, it’s actually better because I’ve had 28 days to reevaluate the alcohol-influenced resolutions of New Year’s Eve and throw out the unrealistic and boring ones that are either unattainable or just ridiculous. The resolution theme this year: long-term goals. In other words, my goal was to think of resolutions that would stick and be a lifestyle change I could make a regular part of my life.

Resolution #1: Good deeds. The first one is recycled from last year and one I stole from my aunt. The idea is to do something nice or some type of good gesture every day. Whether it’s holding the door, picking up a piece of trash, letting someone over on the highway, etc. It’s not difficult, or hard to adapt into an everyday lifestyle change but something that could in the long run make just a little bit of a difference.

Resolution #2: Healthier Lifestyle. I don’t want this to be like everyone else’s resolution. (“I’m gonna lose ______ pounds.”) My goal is for it to encompass a lot more than just eating better, but adapting a whole new healthier lifestyle in general. This includes but is certainly not limited to, spending more time outside, drinking water instead of soda, spending more time around kids, getting more sleep, and just all around making better decisions that affect my physical or emotional well being. Probably going to approach this one with the “baby steps” philosophy and ease into adding all of the good stuff back into my life.

Resolution #3: Be more aware of my surroundings. I don’t like to admit it, but sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble. I’m blissfully unaware of what is going on around me. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not so great. Fortunately, I haven’t been in a situation where this minor flaw has led to detrimental consequences, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen very soon. I want this to include both my immediate vicinity (friends, coworkers, etc) but also bigger things (politics, weather, world events). It never hurt anyone to be a little more aware of what is going on in the world.

Resolution #4: Plan Better. I hate planning. It does not agree with my personality type, it stresses me out, and I thrive on spontaneity and spur of the moment decisions. I plan when I have to, like when it comes to paying bills or planning trips home, but I try to avoid it as much as possible in my every day activities. I know that if anything big happened to me, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I don’t like to think so negatively but I feel there comes a point in adulthood when you have to start planning past Saturday night. It’s no secret that I’m openly against growing up but I feel like this little goal will get me in the right direction.

Whelp, that’s it. I think four long-term goals is enough to get me moving through 2013, even 28 days late. Tomorrow is 8 months since I moved to Charlotte and I had a moment of realization this past week of how much my life has changed from the day I moved down here. If 2013 is half as awesome as 2012 then I have nothing to worry about, other than sticking to my resolutions.

So here’s to a new year and new goals to come with it. Here’s to another 8 months in Charlotte, all the weddings coming up, my line-up of concerts and adventures, and all the crazy people to do all of it with me. 

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