Mary Angel

(1/2017) Every January it is the same thing. January signifies the start of a New Year, a new beginning and New Year’s resolutions. For me it starts mid- December and it involves me racking my brain trying to come up with something new and beating myself up over the old. This year is going to be different. I have decided to keep it simple and focused. Let’s see how it goes.

As I have said most years I spend from mid-December to mid-January trying to figure out what my resolution is going to be. I spend the first week in self-doubt and self-pity over the resolution I didn’t keep. My failures range from weight loss to giving up sodas to parenting improvements. Every year I start off strong and then… The "and then" is what always gets me. My motivations change or are forgotten about entirely. One thing or another and I am sabotaged or I sabotage myself. All of these thoughts run through my head and of course hinder my planning for the next year.

In between the thoughts of self-doubt and self-pity I also try and decide whether I am going to come up with a new resolution or make a second (sometimes third or fourth) attempt at an old resolution. I run through the basics, lose weight, exercise more, eat less, eat more healthy, don’t lose my temper with the kids, yell less, hug more (ok, I have never made that one), or the all-encompassing be healthier and parent better. I considered new resolutions that would involve cleaning the house or my bills or even yard work and none of them had any appeal. They were either of zero interest to me or I recognized failure in the mere thought of them. So now what?

Now it is getting down to the wire and I need to get serious, but not too serious. I mean really, what would happen if I just didn’t make a resolution? This brings me to my last hurdle in resolution making. This is the time when I decide it just isn’t worth it and conclude I will just not make a resolution. This idea sits well with me, very well, for a while. For a very short couple of days I am comforted by the fact that my decision is made and comforted by the fact that I don’t have anything to work on or worry about in the New Year. Then my brain starts thinking about all of the things I really do need to work on. This is when I start all over again and rack my brain to come up with the perfect New Year’s resolution.

So this year I have decided to try something different. Instead of a New Year’s resolution, I am going to make a New Month’s resolution. So every month of the New Year I am going to come up with a different resolution to work on that month. Maybe January will be my weight, maybe February will be my eating habits, and March I can work on a specific short coming in my parenting. Whatever I decide for each month I can encourage myself with the knowledge that I only have to accomplish it for one month. I gave up soda for lent one year and survived (just barely), so one month of almost anything is doable to me. On the off chance that things are going well maybe I will overlap resolutions and start a new month’s challenge while I continue one from the previous month. However there will be no pressure to continue past the one month that any particular resolution has been assigned.

Of course, this opens up a whole new headache. The new dilemma is trying to come up with 12 challenging but doable resolutions. They will need to be things that I truly need to work on, shortcomings or health related needs that I am capable of doing with effort on my part. I think I would like to have a variety of resolutions. I think a variety would help to keep me interested, focused and therefore successful. A variety might also help if I decide to overlap any resolutions. There are three decisions made. First, I will make a resolution, second, I will actually make 12 mini resolutions, and third, I will make a mixed up variety of resolutions. So, what in the world am I going to resolve to change?

Since I asked Santa for the 21 Day Fix and the Simply Fit Board, I guess I will start with a month of exercising more. Based on these gifts from Santa I believe it would be an easy transition to work on my eating habits in February. March might have to be a month focused on purging all of the clutter in my house (I am a closet hoarder, but that is a story for another month). April can be devoted to spending time with my kids, real quality time, maybe even individual quality time. May is going to be the organizing month. If all goes well in May, my summer will start off with a new Zen like house! Gardening and yard work month will have to be June when it is beautiful but not too hot. July will be NO soda month (those who know me, know this may be the month to avoid me). August will be a homeschool organizational month, something I always say I am going to do but, always fall short on. September seems like a good month to enhance my house cleaning skills, followed by October when I will train the children on how to more efficiently and properly do their chores and pitch in around the house. November can be the month when I focus on cooking more and working on the recipes I have wanted to get into a book for years.

That brings me back to December which I believe I will call New Year’s resolution month and I will focus on not focusing too much on next year’s resolution. Happy New Years!

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