I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I figure if I’m going to do anything, I’m going to do it, and the date on a calendar doesn’t help (or hinder).
If I look back over this past year, here’s what my resolutions must have been, because it’s what I actually did the most during the last year:
- Eat more. I ate amazingly well, indulged my inner foodie at every turn. I ate a lot. Daily, in fact; some days it seems as if there was barely a break between feedings. I have savored tastes, licked my fingers for the final flourish, helped myself to seconds (sometimes thirds), took additional bites from my son’s plate after he’d finished.
- Sleep less. I excelled at sleeping fewer hours than you’d think a human being needs to survive. A non-nursing human, that is, as we all know sleep deprivation accompanies parents of newborns. I haven’t slept a full night since I began waking up to turn over in my last trimester, nearly 12 years ago. But here I am, upright, with many, many mornings starting near 4:30 am. Well done.
- Work out about the same amount as you usually do. Yup, can check this off the list. Despite the success in eating more and sleeping less, I managed to maintain the status quo of weekly exercise, which has staved off most of the ill-effects of the first two successes.
- Spend what you make. Accomplished. With the exception of a college savings fund that receives monthly contributions without my having to decide each month, not a red cent went anywhere except into my daily activities.
- Write. Here I am, on the last day of the year, writing. I managed to create something like a disciplined writing practice. Came close to considering it a craft, rather than a hobby.
- Read. Did much, finding authors who are new favorites, old authors I pulled out to re-visit. Some evenings my son and I read together, just as I’d planned.
- View art. This was a good year for viewing art, and I made the most of it. Indulged my inner impressionist leanings by visiting Renoir paintings, holding my breath in the face of his auburn tones.
- Update your office. Spent two months with the help of a dear friend who has the capacity to see color and design and modernized, upgraded, and beautified my office, without the help of Carson or any other of the gang that I had secretly hoped would show up and magically transform the space.
- Resolve your angst/whining/false bravado about aging, and turn 50 with dignity. So glad I pulled this one off, even though I can’t say it was easy. Fifty is a strange number/phase/age/test, and it’s possible I’ll be struggling with the aftermath of turning 50 for a while; perhaps until I turn 51 and then end up smack dab “in my 50’s” which is perilously close to being worse than being 50.
- Increase the piles of things you probably don’t need but can’t find the time or inclination to go through and dispose of properly. Oh yes, this was a full victory. The kitchen counter, desktops and bedside tables are proof that I can meet even the hardest challenges in this life.
The best parts of my year were the hugs, laughter, snuggles, tickles, moments when I dared to sit quietly and resist the urge to “do” anything, moments when I pushed myself to explore new places and push myself outside my comfort zone, moments when I listened to what my loved ones wanted to share with me, moments when I closed my mouth and shared less.
A fine year. Just like I set out to make it.
Well said. And congratulations!