Friday, December 26, 2008

Resolutions revisited...and commited...

It's been one of the better Christmas' I've had in a long time. Believe it or not, I attribute part of that to one of my New Year's Resolutions...to simplify my life. Part of simplifying was to organize, and thanks to good organization in putting away things last Christmas, we wrapped every present for our kids and most of the rest of the family on Christmas Eve...in 4 hours.

Not bad...and I had fun doing it. I decided to be Marvin Stewart and learn how to wrap presents well. The verdict? Well, it was no Martha Stewart, but it was much better than I've ever done in the past.

I took some time off work around before Christmas, and I think it helped get me into the "Christmas Spirit" more this year than in recent years. Ever since I worked retail back in college, Christmas just wasn't the same for me. I think I finally snapped out of the retail induced Christmas funk.

I did fairly well with the reading Resolution I made at the beginning of the year. I didn't read just non-fiction books, but I averaged a little over one a month...very good for me.

I think I succeeded with the get-in-shape Resolution. I didn't really lose much weight at all, but jogging 12 miles a week for the past 4 months has helped out quite a bit. I even did a couple 5Ks in the past month and a half, and am scheduled for a half marathon in April.

The father thing didn't seem to take. I don't know why...probably I didn't put enough effort in, though I feel like I did. I did give it a good honest try though, so I'm not calling it an utter defeat.

So for the first time in a long time, I finished the year in fairly good shape in regards to the beginning of the year Resolutions. There was definitely some neglect throughout the year, but it was definitely not a last minute scurry to try to get back on the path of the Resolutions.

Going forward for next year, aside from continuing to read at least a book a month and keep in shape(did I mention I've got a half marathon scheduled in 4 months? I'm already dreading it), and of course continue to keep my life simple and organized....my main Resolution for this up coming year is to live a life of meekness.

I've always liked the word meek. I learned it a long time ago in church. It just seems to encompass many of the things I'm doing now...keeping myself strong physically and mentally...but instill restraint from displaying this training unless necessary. I used to be much more laid back...not get so worked up about stuff, so impatient so quickly, etc. I want to get back that way. Yet I want to know that when there's a "fight" to fight, I can go to "battle" when needed. I'm fairly good at picking my fights at work...I just need to do that throughout my whole life now.

We'll see how it goes.

1 comment:

Rocketstar said...

Good luck man.

"The father thing didn't seem to take. I don't know why...probably I didn't put enough effort in, though I feel like I did. I did give it a good honest try though, so I'm not calling it an utter defeat."
-- It's a constant battle, I feel the same way.