Resolving the year

2008 is over, thank Jeebus, and with the coming of 2009 comes new resolutions. I am usually conflicted about creating resolutions that I probably will give up on within a week. Let’s face it, changing lifestyles for the better is hard. Changing lifestyles for the worst however seems surprisingly simple, and the options for bad living seems to be endless and cheap. Good living appears to be only for the well off, or those with the resources to procure the supplys.

At least, that is always the excuse. I don’t have the time to cook, gyms cost too much, no one is going to read my writing anyway so why try, etcetera. But really, who am I fooling. I have time to cook, I have free access to a gym (including a bike to ride back and forth to work if need be). I can write, read, and draw while Will plays trains. I need to learn how to work around him, not him learn how to play around me (make him a part of my activities).

Mostly, as Newt said, I need to get off my can of Duff. I am missing some real key moments by not doing what I want to do. I am also not getting any younger. Chili’s ain’t gonna make me any thinner. Watching TV simply to just have something else to do is not going to make me a better writer, designer, husband, father. I can’t use FaceBook as the excuse for why I am not doing actual creative work. And there is no way that I am going to gain any strong design skills if I read the tuts but don’t finish any particular piece. Mostly.

More importantly, I am not going to be resolved in any of those things that I find important if I continue on the path that I am on. Resolutions seems like an odd thing to make only once a year, and are we really resolving anything? Resolutions deal more with policy than a desired outcome which is obtained through specific motivation. Goals seems a more appropos word for the practice that we undertake every year to change specific things about ourselves. Resolutions sounds too concrete and absolute in a year that can see many resolutions fail either through our negligence, or by life getting in the way. Goal is a more fluid term allowing the practitioner to adapt the goal as needed. Goals are also not limited to the year that they were created only. Instead they can be expanded, modified, revised, and omitted on in the following years based on their success or what is happening around the person.

Therefore, I am setting my New Year’s Goals for 2009. A small list of things that I would like to accomplish, or begin, this year. Goals that I am setting for myself to be a better husband, father, friend, and person.

Goals for 2009:

1. Exercise more
   a .) Ride that bike to work. That is why I got it. Stop throwing money into a car that is keeping me from seeing my town as I ride into work.
   b .) Use the gym at work. It’s free. It has a shower. ‘Nuff said.
2. Eat better – Cook at home and eat out less.
3. Read more – Besides school work, make time to read a novel, an article anything.
4. Draw/Design – Hone my skills. I want the better jobs, I need to throw myself out there.
5. Work on the cartoon – See #4.
6. Pull out the bass and play again – Look for a band that I can get behind, and do some jammin’ with the missus.

A short list, but all of them are manageable. They are for me to complete and not to stress about.

It is going to be an interesting year.