It's that dreaded time of year when we look at our lives, and make grand gestures to do it better for less and make more in the year that lies directly ahead of us. The New Year's Resolution! Ick! The biggest thing wrong with this concept is that we never really follow through with them, for reasons we can all justify later.
I clearly see the concept of a new year, a new plan. My problem is that many fail to check in on/update/evaluate these promises made to ourselves. Face it - it's a lot of pressure to change our next 365 days with a few simple promises! Let's make a date to review our promises and our plan every three months instead! We'll call these the New Quarter Resolutions! Losing 50 pounds this year is a huge feat - losing twleve pounds by the end of March doesn't seem nearly as impossible. Trying 75 new recipes in 2013 can feel like a life sentence in the kitchen - five new dishes a month? Easy as pie, or gravy, in my case. Still a little baffled by pie!
So here are my suggestions to help with the New Quarter Resolutions - keep it fun, keep it realsitic, and make it specific - and my own New Quarter resolutions:
I resolve to be more disciplined with my writing. This means I plan to do more to find fun and interesting subject matter and GET IT WRITTEN! I have a plan for my www.examiner.com articles, and I wrote it down!
This leads to my next NQR (as we shall refer to the New Quarter Resolution from here on out!) - write it down! No more relying on my memory. As I get busier throughout the course of a lifetime, I forget stuff. Can't be age related, can it? I don't think so.... Make a list, check it twice, (maybe Santa is onto something here!), cross stuff off! What better way to measure my success than to see in writing what I've accomplished.
Next 2013 NQR: do NOT stop learning! This will be aided by my previous NQR, because everytime I think to myself, "Google that!," I never write it down, and guess what? I forget to Google THAT! So, if I write it down on my list, I will Google it, learn something new, and maybe even have something new to write ABOUT! Oh! I love how this is all working together!
The final NQR is just to be a better person: learn to recognize and accept my limitations, strive to improve what I can and recognize what has to be as it has been dealt, realize the small gestures are as important as the grand ones, and maybe, just maybe, try to stop criticizing bad drivers. Naahhhhh....don't see that one about bad drivers coming to fruition! I'll always critque that!
Let's all check in at the end of March and see how we've done, shall we? Keep in mind that Easter is March 31st, 2013, so no chocolate bunnies to sabotage diet plans until Q2! Don't worry...I've already got it written down on my calendar!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
I'm coming back!
Wow! I just saw that I haven't posted since August! My! How time flies. Wish I could say it's because I've been having nothing but fun, but the fact of the matter is that I have been involved in a move.
Who's moved lately? You know how time consuming it can be. You pack your stuff, move your stuff, and then unpack your stuff. That's the condensed version of it all. The thing about the unpacking your stuff, is trying to fit all the stuff from house "A" into house "B." It just doesn't all fit where it used to! As you're unpacking, looking back on all the stuff you already threw out while you were packing, you still find yourself in awe of all the stuff you brought with you! Where? O where, will it all go?
Then you get to the point I call "functionally unpacked." That's the stage where you now have a bed, sheets, towels, dishes, clothes (well, most of them, anyway), appliances, etc., unpacked and set up. You are living a normal semblance of a life. So...when do you get to all those other boxes piled up on the floor, in front of the fireplace, in the coat closet, in the garage and hall way? All of them suddenly seem less important. Besides, the shows on the DVR (TV and cable set-up: a high priority in this household!) are piling up, too, and they MUST get watched!
My solution? Short of creating a fun house out of moving boxes for the pets, I committed to hosting not one, but two, Holiday parties this year! Give me a deadline, and I can make it happen. Give me all the time in the world, and something will always be more inportant! So I have until December 16th to get it organized and decorated This will be my dry run for the family gathering on Christmas day. Who's going to be more critical - friends or family? I'll know soon enough.
Until then, I'm going to keep you all waiting to hear about the rest of my Summer In Minneapolis. I will complete the tale for you, and even share the pics if I figure out how to post them! Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Who's moved lately? You know how time consuming it can be. You pack your stuff, move your stuff, and then unpack your stuff. That's the condensed version of it all. The thing about the unpacking your stuff, is trying to fit all the stuff from house "A" into house "B." It just doesn't all fit where it used to! As you're unpacking, looking back on all the stuff you already threw out while you were packing, you still find yourself in awe of all the stuff you brought with you! Where? O where, will it all go?
Then you get to the point I call "functionally unpacked." That's the stage where you now have a bed, sheets, towels, dishes, clothes (well, most of them, anyway), appliances, etc., unpacked and set up. You are living a normal semblance of a life. So...when do you get to all those other boxes piled up on the floor, in front of the fireplace, in the coat closet, in the garage and hall way? All of them suddenly seem less important. Besides, the shows on the DVR (TV and cable set-up: a high priority in this household!) are piling up, too, and they MUST get watched!
My solution? Short of creating a fun house out of moving boxes for the pets, I committed to hosting not one, but two, Holiday parties this year! Give me a deadline, and I can make it happen. Give me all the time in the world, and something will always be more inportant! So I have until December 16th to get it organized and decorated This will be my dry run for the family gathering on Christmas day. Who's going to be more critical - friends or family? I'll know soon enough.
Until then, I'm going to keep you all waiting to hear about the rest of my Summer In Minneapolis. I will complete the tale for you, and even share the pics if I figure out how to post them! Thanks for hanging in there with me!
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