Friday, January 1, 2010

My New New Year's Resolutions

So, I’ve thought a lot about this over the past few weeks—the pros and cons of New Year’s Resolutions—and I’d pretty much talked myself out of doing any for the year. Let’s face it…most of the time they fail and I’ve had the same freakin’ resolutions for the past ump-teen years (lose weight, write more, get organized). What’s the point? I’d decided to go into 2010 just keeping in mind that I really needed to do all these things but I wasn’t going to do a “resolution” or start a new plan or suddenly jump back to Weight Watchers (cuz you know the lines are huge the first week in January).

Then, I found myself walking through the bookstore. I was just there to get a cup of tea but I was on my phone with a friend who was telling me about how stressful her Christmas had turned out to be. I couldn’t find a way to break into the conversation while I ordered a 16-oz English Breakfast tea with room for cream, so I wandered the store.

I skimmed across the new books and saw one on getting organized. I’ve bought a half a dozen of these kinds of books over the years and never make it through. Who has time to read all this stuff? I need to be organized now!! Well, this book is split out into weeks and every week you do one bit of organizing. Means I don’t have to read the whole book until I’m doing each section. I like that.

Then my wanderings continued and I found myself in health and fitness. Sigh. All the books and plans and I almost walked away. I’ve tried a bunch, I know I should work out, I know I should eat better.

But then a realization hit me…at the end of 2010, I might not be a svelte, organized, writing mogul but you know, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. And even if I don’t completely succeed, any sort of effort will mean improvement. I know from experience, I won’t follow a strict meal plan to lose weight but if it stops me from hitting the donut cart twice a week, that’s a good thing.

I walked out of the store with 2 books—one to be organized and one to improve my fitness/health. I’m not calling them “new year’s resolutions” (the last time I was “resolved” about anything I was in debate class) and I’m not going to begin today (a Friday morning just seems like a bad time to change your world). I might not succeed but I’ll have made an effort and that counts for something. Who knows? By this time next year, I might be able to see the top of my desk. There’s always a chance.

Happy New Year!
Tielle

And the Blatant Self-Promotion Side Note
Taking Shape is now available from Ellora’s Cave! You can read a hot, sexy excerpt at my blog.

6 comments:

LizbethSelvig said...

Loved your blog, Tielle! I'm totally with you -- it's a new start, you have to try! To that end, I joined the YMCA yesterday (it was only $20.10 to sign up -- get it? Yuk yuk.) And I have three calendars for three different purposes that are supposed to lead me out of the morass of disorganization. I signed up for Margie Lawson's "Defeating Self-defeating Behaviors" online class. I haven't had a piece of chocolate yet today and I'm working instead of sitting in front the boob tube watching football. (Okay, that last one isn't a hardship, so maybe it doesn't count...) I'm ready to go--for however many days it lasts! Here's to finding desk tops. I'm following in your footsteps! Happy New Year!

Tam Linsey said...

I'm with ya! I'm not a big New Years resolution kind of girl - if something needs resolved, I do it right then and there, not wait until some pre-ordained date on the calendar. Here's to keeping our resolutions for a better life, no matter when we make them!

Lynn Lovegreen said...

Tielle, you have the right idea here. One of my friends calls it "baby steps." Just change small things and you can make a big difference over time. Maybe I'll think of this the next time I don't feel like working out....

Boone Brux said...

You know this subject is near and dear to my heart. I'm just happy to see that somebody else understands the importance of starting a new program on a Monday, on the first day of a new month. You can do do it on the 15th, if it lands on a Monday. But it's sheer folly to dive in on a Friday. You should have asked me before you purchased the books. I probably have them. They're sitting along side my inspired cookbooks that still have that new book smell and creak when I open them. Good luck. Just think, if we improve a little each year, in ten years we may achieve incrediblenes. Is that a word?

Juniper Bell said...

Tielle, I always have those exact same resolutions! Too funny. This year I'm calling them "intentions." It seems a little less demanding, somehow. ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm doing 'intentions' this year. I'm starting on February 1st. That is a Monday you might notice.
Great Blog Tielle;}