Write Back Weekend "Promise Purgatory"
Last week I asked the typical end of the year, wrap up type question when I asked you what your New Years resolutions were. Many of you, not unlike me, did not see January first as an excuse to change what could be changed any other day. Still, change or not change, that doesn't "change" the fact that the new year does make you think about things like fresh starts--along with the fact that 1988 was (yikes) twenty years ago already, but I digress.
Resolutions are powerful things and quite frankly, I think that's why so many of us are resistant to making them. If a year goes by and we haven't fulfilled our resolutions, we run the risk of letting others down, as well as ourselves. Plus many of us pick out of reach resolutions, things that aren't completely in our control, and then spend a lot of time beating ourselves up for not reaching our goals. Then there are the others who make resolutions just to make them and pick things that are easily attainable so that they don't have to reach that far to say they changed something.
The point is, there's no use in making a resolution, no matter what time of year it is, if you don't truly want to do it. The other main component is that you have to try to achieve it. This doesn't mean that you necessarily have to get it done, but it means that you really, truly want to for no one else but YOU. I tried to explain this concept to my third graders when working on resolutions in class. I found many of then went the play it safe route instead of picking things they could really work on like paying better attention in class or completing all of their homework. I guess you could say denial and slacking permeates our culture from an early age.
In order to better understand where I'm headed in 2008 it's only fair to visit where I wanted to go in 2007 and 2006. Last year my goals were the following:
1. Get paid for writing something, somehow, someway.
2. Work out more with weights.
3. Travel to someplace new.
4. Take more pictures.
5. Work on being more patient with my students.
6. Work on living in the moment.
7. Make a conscious effort to write '07 on everything sooner rather than later.
And here were my goals from 2006...
1. Get paid for writing something, somehow, someway.
2. Be more positive. Oh who am I kidding? I'll never be able to do that.
3. Read more books that inspire movies than see movies that inspire books.
4. Try not to be so sensitive about what others think about me. I think that's a good one. What do you think?
5. Travel to somewhere exotic...even if it's the international section of the supermarket.
6. Ride on a unicorn. What? I had to put something truly unattainable on there. It offsets the other five nicely, making them look much more feasible, no?
Now if you're playing along at home you'll notice there's been a pattern. In 2006, I resolved to work on six things. In 2007 I planned to work on seven things. So if I'm consistent in at least one area of my life, in 2008 I'd plan to work on (all together now) eight things.
Now that this is my third year making resolutions I've decided to rename them to works in progress considering many of the items from the last two years can easily carry over to this year as well.
1. Get paid for writing something, somehow, someway.
Technically this has happened, but it's nice to resolve to get paid for something every year, right?
2. Work out more with weights.
This also has happened, but I still haven't achieved the results I want. I'm sure this is a mix of not doing it properly and not doing it consistently. Stay tuned on this one for further development.
3. Travel to someplace new.
I'm keeping this one on year because it's going to happen this year, dammit. After all, I have a honeymoon to go on.
4. Take more pictures.
Those of you who read what I got for Christmas know that I got a new camera this year. That coupled with a few big things happening this year = no more excuses.
5. Work on being more patient with my students.
This is another one I can easily make each year but in my defense, every year it's different students, and yet the problems remain the same. Needles to say, it's an ongoing battle.
6. Be more positive, period.
This one I need to do for my health sooner rather than later. I can do it though. See? I'm already achieving this goal. Check!
7. Own my first home.
I don't know if this is something that counts under the heading of resolution, but it's also something I plan on achieving in 2008 so I might as well list it here since I want to work on getting it done.
8. Stop always treating people the way I want to be treated.
This is probably the most questionable one on the list but I'll try to explain. I consider myself to be a thoughtful, sensitive person to a fault. But year after year, I find I'm often burned by people ranging from acquaintances to close friends. It could be something really small, but it doesn't matter, it still smarts me. The fact that my feelings get hurt I can't control, but the way I treat others who treat me this way can. So I've decided I have to toughen up. Stop being so nice to people and accommodating others who don't do the same for me in return. What can I say? No more Mrs. Nice Janet.
So there you have it, my eight in 2008. Think I can achieve them all? Next yeat I get to tack on one more but the good news is the year after that, I only have to choose one thing to work on, right?:)
Resolutions are powerful things and quite frankly, I think that's why so many of us are resistant to making them. If a year goes by and we haven't fulfilled our resolutions, we run the risk of letting others down, as well as ourselves. Plus many of us pick out of reach resolutions, things that aren't completely in our control, and then spend a lot of time beating ourselves up for not reaching our goals. Then there are the others who make resolutions just to make them and pick things that are easily attainable so that they don't have to reach that far to say they changed something.
The point is, there's no use in making a resolution, no matter what time of year it is, if you don't truly want to do it. The other main component is that you have to try to achieve it. This doesn't mean that you necessarily have to get it done, but it means that you really, truly want to for no one else but YOU. I tried to explain this concept to my third graders when working on resolutions in class. I found many of then went the play it safe route instead of picking things they could really work on like paying better attention in class or completing all of their homework. I guess you could say denial and slacking permeates our culture from an early age.
In order to better understand where I'm headed in 2008 it's only fair to visit where I wanted to go in 2007 and 2006. Last year my goals were the following:
1. Get paid for writing something, somehow, someway.
2. Work out more with weights.
3. Travel to someplace new.
4. Take more pictures.
5. Work on being more patient with my students.
6. Work on living in the moment.
7. Make a conscious effort to write '07 on everything sooner rather than later.
And here were my goals from 2006...
1. Get paid for writing something, somehow, someway.
2. Be more positive. Oh who am I kidding? I'll never be able to do that.
3. Read more books that inspire movies than see movies that inspire books.
4. Try not to be so sensitive about what others think about me. I think that's a good one. What do you think?
5. Travel to somewhere exotic...even if it's the international section of the supermarket.
6. Ride on a unicorn. What? I had to put something truly unattainable on there. It offsets the other five nicely, making them look much more feasible, no?
Now if you're playing along at home you'll notice there's been a pattern. In 2006, I resolved to work on six things. In 2007 I planned to work on seven things. So if I'm consistent in at least one area of my life, in 2008 I'd plan to work on (all together now) eight things.
Now that this is my third year making resolutions I've decided to rename them to works in progress considering many of the items from the last two years can easily carry over to this year as well.
1. Get paid for writing something, somehow, someway.
Technically this has happened, but it's nice to resolve to get paid for something every year, right?
2. Work out more with weights.
This also has happened, but I still haven't achieved the results I want. I'm sure this is a mix of not doing it properly and not doing it consistently. Stay tuned on this one for further development.
3. Travel to someplace new.
I'm keeping this one on year because it's going to happen this year, dammit. After all, I have a honeymoon to go on.
4. Take more pictures.
Those of you who read what I got for Christmas know that I got a new camera this year. That coupled with a few big things happening this year = no more excuses.
5. Work on being more patient with my students.
This is another one I can easily make each year but in my defense, every year it's different students, and yet the problems remain the same. Needles to say, it's an ongoing battle.
6. Be more positive, period.
This one I need to do for my health sooner rather than later. I can do it though. See? I'm already achieving this goal. Check!
7. Own my first home.
I don't know if this is something that counts under the heading of resolution, but it's also something I plan on achieving in 2008 so I might as well list it here since I want to work on getting it done.
8. Stop always treating people the way I want to be treated.
This is probably the most questionable one on the list but I'll try to explain. I consider myself to be a thoughtful, sensitive person to a fault. But year after year, I find I'm often burned by people ranging from acquaintances to close friends. It could be something really small, but it doesn't matter, it still smarts me. The fact that my feelings get hurt I can't control, but the way I treat others who treat me this way can. So I've decided I have to toughen up. Stop being so nice to people and accommodating others who don't do the same for me in return. What can I say? No more Mrs. Nice Janet.
So there you have it, my eight in 2008. Think I can achieve them all? Next yeat I get to tack on one more but the good news is the year after that, I only have to choose one thing to work on, right?:)
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