To Resolve Or Not to Resolve ...

Every year at this time, I start debating with myself whether or not to organize some New Year's Resolutions.  For a long time, I would decide on two or three things, and without fail, fail to meet any of them!  Eventually, I admitted to myself that a large part of the reason was because they were unrealistic.  At the first indication that they were not going to "work," I'd get all depressed and chuck the whole idea.

Realizing the truth about my resolutions, I decided to skip any formal declarations of things I wanted/hoped to do in any given year.  But I always felt like I was taking the easy way out.

Last year, I decided that I would try something slightly different, and rather than calling them "resolutions," I would tell myself they were reachable goals.  They included things like eating better, exercising more, trying to do better at work - you get the picture.  And the good news is, that I was able to keep them in mind all year, and even if I didn't accomplish exactly what I'd hoped, I felt like I'd been trying, and that was definitely a good thing.

I also tried the One Little Word challenge, choosing "kindness" for my word of the year.  It seemed like this would be an excellent thing along the way to trying to bring myself into the more positive aspects of things.  I'm happy to say that for the most part, it worked.  I may still not be the kindest person you'll ever meet, but I'm a lot better than I used to be, and a lot more conscious of trying harder to be kind.

Thinking of this, I have decided that for me at least, this approach to things works a lot better.  I have a tendency to be really hard on myself if I have specific expectations set in stone and I fail to meet them 100%.  Whether or not they are realistic doesn't  matter - I get frustrated and angry with myself and figuratively, take about 10 steps backward.

So in 2013, I'm going to work on my "personal goals" as opposed to my New Year's Resolutions.  Some will be relatively mundane, but all of them will be things that will make me *want* to accomplish them.  At the moment, I'm still floating things in , my brain, deciding what will be the main focuses (foci?), but to be perfectly honest, I think the fact that I'm giving it all some serious thought is a step in the right direction, and I'm pretty happy about that.

In the meantime, there's still plenty of Christmastime to enjoy, and I plan to do just that!

From Our House to Yours

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Time!

I just realized it's been too long since I've posted here.  But I didn't want to pass up the chance to post on 12-12-12, the last symmetrical date we will ever see in our lifetimes!  And it's happening right in the thick of holiday time, with Hanukkah underway, Christmas very close, and the end of the year within sight as well.

I absolutely love Christmastime.  And though I haven't been as diligent about my exercising as I would like, at least I have not abandoned it altogether.  If I can even go to the gym once a week between now and the end of Christmastime (in our house, January 6 is the last day of Christmastime), I'll consider it a success.  Though I haven't really lost any weight since we got back from Ireland in early November, I also haven't gained any - I'll take that, thank you very much.

I know for a lot of people, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day is when they lose their motivation, time, and desire to remember to stay healthy.  It's so easy to do, since even if you don't go crazy with parties and celebrations, there's usually something on your calendar that keeps you running around.  I'm doing better this year than I have for quite a few years, and it's actually making me more thoughtful about eating and exercising.  I grab some steps whenever I can at work, and on days when the weather cooperates, I try to walk around the block at least during lunchtime, or take the slightly longer route walking home.  I haven't made myself give up any goodies, but I try to not eat as much and/or have a smaller meal next time.  I enjoy this time of year too much to become a martyr.

And tomorrow, I have my annual mammogram.  I don't look forward to it, but I know it's necessary, and have been fortunate to have been able to avoid even more drastic measures down the road since my cancer was caught early.  Every year, I think my luck is gonna be up again, but so far I've had a good report each time.  Hopefully tomorrow will be the same result.

In the meantime, I'll be right here, enjoying myself.  Why don't you do the same???