My New Year's Resolutions

I usually shy away (O.k. run away, shrieking) from New Year's resolutions. (For years I have dreaded my local fitness club in January, I have to endure the onslaught of all those New Year's Resolutioner's and then go on to enjoy my workout's for the rest of the year.) I've always thought that they are a waste of time. Why choose a date, that comes around only once a year, to start/ re-start a new habit or goal? So, if I fail, does that mean that I can't start over again until next year? What happens if I decide to tweak the goal/ habit. Am I, in-effect, still failing at my habit/ goal because I didn't accomplish what I had originally set out to do?

Plus, I avoid, like the plague, to do what other people are doing. Why do something that a BILLION other people have tried and failed at? (For instance, being a rock star groupy. There's nothing to set you apart and make you special if you're just another adoring face in the crowd.) Same with New Year's resolutions... I refuse to be a Resolution groupy.

ALSO I know it's the beginning of a new year. But, truly, what is that date the beginning of besides an arbitrary date on a paper calendar?! I can think of much more notable beginnings. The 1st day of school, the 1st day of the new week, the birth of a child, the start of a new day, graduation from highschool, the start of a new job,etc., etc., etc.

So, suffice to say, I won't be making any New Year's resolutions on a cold snowy day, smack dab in the middle of a cold and blustery winter.

Now, not to say that I don't make goals and resolutions. Au contraire! I think that they are quite important and needed in life. This is especially true in MY life.

I'm a stay-at-home Mom. The reality is that I NEED to do very little. I only NEED to make sure some calories are going in my children's mouths and that they have adequate shelter. The rest is a practice in self-discipline. I don't have a boss ready to fire me if I don't get my work done, I know, Mike, but that just proves my point. (He's way too sweet to every fire me) I need to be a self-starter, a self-disciplined, goal oriented person all-by-my-self. Which, unfortunately, I am not. I wish I was one of those self motivating people, but I am, simply, not.

This is where my goals and habits are so important to me. Homeschooling happens because I have a goal. I exercise early in the morning because I've worked on that habit. So I like to make my resolutions weekly, or even daily, sometimes hour-to-hour. For two reasons: One, so I can quickly jump back on that horse. And two, so that I can feel accomplished with just a little amount of work. :)

I, actually, AM looking at and revising my resolution's this time of year. But I am doing this all year long! So you won't catch me calling them my New Year's Resolutions. I just call them "my resolutions" and that gives me the freedom to visit, re-vise, and start over again, all-year-long.

--- Iceman Out---