New Year’s resolutions work out for me about as well as they work out for everyone else, which is to say “not at all.” So, let’s not use the r-word. Instead, here are some things I’d like to do in the new year. And, if I manage to make any progress on them, I’ll be pretty happy:
- Lose the excess weight. I’m really good, actually, at losing weight. But I am, unfortunately, also very good at packing it back on. But indulgence gets old after a while. So I need to start watching what I eat and spending some regular time on the elliptical.
- Sleep more. I’ve always had issues with insomnia. And grad school taught me the valuable skill of living with sleep deprivation. It’s nice to be able to pull all-nighters when I need to, but I make a habit of it and that’s not good for my health. And, besides, it makes me grumpy.
- Record more often. I tend to tinker with my recording gear, but it’s rare that I finish a track. Time is an issue, of course, but music is better or me than TV, so why not try?
- Be a better person. That’s the uber-goal, isn’t it? That’s the meta-goal that all others tend toward, the project of which all other projects are merely sub-projects. Buddhist and new age folks might use the term “mindfulness” for what I’d like to achieve here, but the pragmatic definition is much more to the point and can be summarized thusly: think about what you say before you say it (and, if what you intend to say isn’t an improvement over the silence, leave it unsaid), and attempt to give others the benefit of the doubt.
