It’s two weeks into February and I still haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions. That may be a good thing because if I had made a resolution on indecisiveness or procrastination…
I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Why? Because I don’t keep them. But this year, I thought I should make an exception. I’ve convinced myself self-examination and reflection are good things… as long as I don’t drown in them. There’s no point in going overboard!
I’ve considered lots of resolutions but most of them are retreads from previous years, resolutions that I did not keep. They are broken resolutions that either gobbled up my self-esteem (along with everything in the refrigerator) or caused friction among family and friends as I exuded buckets of insincere congeniality.
This year, I will do things differently – eventually. I’ve decided to make resolutions that I know I can keep. And I’m going to make more than one. That way if I keep one or several, I’ll be able to feel really good about myself and maybe even brag about it. (None of my resolutions will involve pride or arrogance.)
I should have these resolutions made by March, April, or maybe as late as May. No need to hurry because I want to get them right.
So…what to resolve? In the coming year of 2017, I could resolve to do the blatantly obvious, like
- Not smoke. This could be a guaranteed “keeper” because I don’t actually smoke. This is something I could do even though I guess it’s not really a resolution. On the other hand if the smoking involves overly cooked food and flames in the kitchen, it might be a possibility.
- Not drink to excess. But what is an excess? More than one drink a day is considered unhealthy for a woman. And what about rum apple cake, Champagne sorbet, Kahlua and cream cookies, Margarita bars, or any of the other 2,352 desserts with bourbon?
On the other hand, I could be less skeptical and more optimistic by making some real resolutions like:
- Become organized! To do that I’d have to get rid of a lot of things. I’d have to declutter or “tidy up” real hard. This will not happen. Besides, I might have to eventually use some of the things I never use. And then there is the garage…who is going to look in there?
- Be positive and avoid the negative! Every week I could celebrate “Happy Saturday!”, a day of cheerfulness, a day of pleasantries! I’ve thought about this. A lot. I don’t think Happy Saturday is going to happen. The thought of all that feigned, effervescent optimism is depressing.
- Exercise! I think I’ll go lie down until this one passes.
The good news is – there are some resolutions that I definitely will keep, like
- Look under the pillow before I lie down to sleep…just in case I’ve provoked the cat…
- Clean out the garage. I might actually find something I need…
- And stay away from politics so I can keep the friends I still have…
There are a lot of other resolutions I could make, but I’m going to think about them for a while and maybe just pick one sooner or later. One thing I’m sure of, procrastination or indecisiveness won’t be on my list.
