Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yay!  Holidays!

Okay, I'm not really that enthusiastic.  But don't worry, I won't dull your ears with another anti-commercialism rant--you've heard enough of those.  Still, Christmas is is a nice time to spend with family and friends.

No, today we'll tackle the whole concept of New Year's resolutions.  I'm not keen on them, for a variety of reasons.  The primary one is that inherent in the idea is that the only time it's appropriate to change your habits is at the start of a new year (after all, we don't have mid year resolutions, do we?).  The next one up is that people hastily make decisions that result in unrealistic goals, and usually give up within a month or two.  So what's the point?

"I think I'll give up tuna this year.  That's totally doable."

That said, I see nothing wrong with periodic evaluations of your life and deciding to make changes at that time.  After all, if you're unhappy with your weight, why wait to start a new diet and exercise plan?  Figure out what you're going to do, and do it.  Establish a workable plan (instead of cutting out all cheeseburgers, maybe just eat smaller ones).  I use a diet as my example because that's a really popular one at New Year's.  It could be anything.  For example, going back to school.  Although you might have to wait a couple months on that one to allow for the school schedule--but you could still put in your applications and fill out your FAFSA.

And on that note, I have some periodic life evaluation goals of my own.  It just so happens that they line up with the New Year, but I'm implementing them yesterday.  Why wait?  I've been overly introspective this semester, mostly because I've actually had time to think.  A lot of what I've come to this time is really continuing or increasing previous efforts, but I think it's important to plan.  I plan a lot.  Some of you may think my going back to school was a little spur of the moment or unexpected (at least the major), but this was plan C when I was applying for grad school. 

Anyway, here's what I plan on working on until things come up for evaluation again.

1) Eat less crap.  Sure, I've lost weight, but that's mostly been quantity, not quality.  I'd like to try and improve the quality of what I'm eating, or at the very least stop eating food that says I hate myself.

Nothing says, "I hate myself," quite like food that looks the same after sitting out for a year.

2) Keep up the exercise/do more of it.  I started out with a pretty solid plan, but whenever classes start up or work happens, I start slacking off.  I'd like to not do that.  I'd also like to get my upper body strengthened so I stop breaking myself.  I'm hoping the yoga will be good for that--bad weather and sunset are no good for the current plan (walking/biking outside).

3) Wallow less.  I've had issues.  I have a bad tendency to wallow when I feel less than stellar.  This is another, "I hate myself," habit.

4) Reduce TV and internet consumption by at least 20%.  When I spend too much time on this stuff it starts to suck away my soul.  I can feel it.  20% is an arbitrary amount selected only so I have an excuse to include a pony.

 

Who doesn't want to be 20% cooler?

5) Be less paranoid.  I was raised to be pretty paranoid--living a very sheltered life will do that.  And then the whole debacle in Greenville just made it worse (it's hard not to be suspicious when everyone who approaches you on the street really is asking you for money).  But let's face it--just because someone happens to be walking in my direction, it doesn't mean they're going to initiate an unpleasant social interaction.  Maybe they just want to go to that place behind me. 

6) Continue working towards balance and moderation.  You'll notice that none of these things are to stop doing something entirely.  Lately I've become convinced that achieving balance (amongst all that crap that's important to me) is the way to go, the path that will result in the most enjoyable life.  Now, sometimes that may mean working more, or spending more time with friends--balance doesn't necessarily mean that everything has to be equal.  And, of course, it's a hard thing to achieve, and will vary from time to time.  But if I'm going to pick an unreachable goal, I think this is a good one to strive towards.  I think that moderation is key for balance, too.  It's not healthy to do anything in excess and I think keeping things in check is a good way to move towards a more reasonable and happy life.

Will I be successful with all of this stuff?  Maybe, maybe not.  The important thing is to try.  Even if I only get a fifth of the way there, at least I will have made progress towards my ultimate goals.  Small changes are still changes, and a lot of this is things that can take a lifetime. 

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, have a Merry Christmas!!!

Don't worry, in the spirit of the season, Cthulu will wait until after the holiday to swallow your souls.