I have never really liked the idea of making New Year's resolutions, mostly because I've felt like I ought to be making resolutions about myself year round instead of just at the new year. But I'm beginning to wonder whether constant resolutions are really a good way for me to go about things, especially since I am not good at keeping them. I set my sights on too many goals, put my finger in too many pots, resolve at different times to do well or stick to different things that may even conflict with one another. The last 6 weeks of the year tend to be extremely stressful for me as a rule, since Josh gets crazy amounts of work to do at school and usually isn't around much, while my department at work is frantically trying to finish our main yearly task that takes about 9 months and inevitably isn't as close to being done as we want it to be in November, plus all of the usual holiday stuff. This year, I managed to add to that my ESL practicum that took up about as much time as a part-time job plus a wine tasting class which, while enjoyable, required driving to Westwood once a week after work and not getting home until after 11. My skin broke out, I gained weight, I freaked out a couple of times, and I took most of it out on my hapless husband. "Remember November of aught-seven!" will be my battle cry in this fight against my own tendency to want to be and do too many things at once. I hereby resolve that 2008 will be different. I will have a set of goals and will stick to them. When I want to do something that seems good, I will weigh it with those goals in view and will discard it if it does not fit those goals. No more chasing seemingly worthwhile things only to lose sight of what is really important.
1. Discipline. There are a wide variety of areas in my life that could use more discipline. Getting up on time, taking vitamins, and eating healthy foods as a habit are among them. I could make resolutions about all of those specific things, but I think I would rather choose a few things that I think will help me cultivate an overall habit of discipline. I will read my Bible daily (I actually did a better job of this in 2007 than in previous years, but could do better still). I will participate in a triathlon (assuming I am actually able to acquire decent swimming skills in the lessons I'll be starting this month. Notice I did not even say I would complete the triathlon. I just at least want to get to the point where I can be in one, which I would consider a major accomplishment considering my athletic abilities.) I will follow a regular schedule for riding the train and stick to it. All three of these go together-- for example, a regular commute schedule helps me stick to my devotional time and it's necessary for triathlon training, especially if I'm going to stick to twice weekly swimming lessons in El Monte.
2. Leisure. Again, there are a lot of things I'd like to improve in my life that require more "free" time--keeping in better touch with friends, being available more often to discuss interesting topics with my husband, reading more good books--I could make individual resolutions about all of these, but I would probably fail if I didn't get at the root of the problem, which is trying to do too much. If it's not one of the three items in resolution #1 and is not essential to survival (sleep or eating) or to my role as a Christian, a wife, and an employee (in that order), I need to seriously consider not doing it at all or I shouldn't sweat it if it doesn't get done. To wit, I will not see free time as a void that needs to be filled by projects.