About this time last year I made a list of No-Year’s Resolutions*, so I thought this might be as good a time as any to review how I did on them.
* In case anybody missed the intended sarcasm, my No-Years Resolutions were an attempt at reverse psychologizing myself into actually improving instead of… well, the opposite.
My first one was to Gain weight. I’m thinking at least 40 pounds. Just more of me to love, right? I’d have to say I failed at this one, which is good; pretty much kept my head above water is all. I haven’t weighed in for a few weeks, but last time I checked I was still tipping the scale at about 235 or so, which is about where I was this time last year. The problem is that even though 235 isn’t ‘morbidly obese’ or anything, it’s still about 50lbs heavier than what I weighed when we were married, and it sure ain’t 50lbs of muscle. I get tired just thinking of hauling that much extra weight around wherever I go. Will 2010 be the year I finally hack off that spare tire? I sure hope so, and I’ll be giving it some concerted effort.
Next up, Not even think about exercising. I’d resolve to quit exercising, but I can’t very well stop if I’m not doing it in the first place. Total waste of time. Well, I thought about it, and did some, but nowhere near a regular exercise regime. Still need to work on this one. P90x? Maybe. Or maybe just haul my butt out of the recliner & get on the treadmill on a regular basis.
As for the Read less, and I’ll hide my Bible. Quiet time? Devotions? Spiritual disciplines? Who needs them? item, I’d have to say it was a draw. My Bible reading time & spiritual discipline has been at about the same low level for several years now. Not a good thing.
Watch more TV. I might even break down and get cable. From what people at work talk about, I’ve been missing some good stuff. Success here, I think. But that’s probably more an issue of not keeping track of my tube time. I didn’t buy cable, but I did break down & buy the digital converter box so the TV would at least continue to work. That’s given us a little more TV content to choose from, but I still end up kicking myself for staying up too late watching stoopid TV shows. Like My Name Is Earl… A little self-control? Please?
Procrastinate more. Then again, maybe I’ll wait & do that next year. I am happy to report that I don’t procrastinate any more. I don’t do it any less either, so I think it’s a draw on this one too. Or… heck; I’ll finish this one later.
Another failure; Take up a new habit: Maybe drinking. And smoking would be good too. And as long as I’m at it, I’ll start hitting the casinos. No smoking or gambling, but I did break down & buy a 4-pack of Guinness a while back, and paid a visit to Monks in October, but I’m not exactly a closet alcoholic.
An abject failure on this one! Spend more time at work. In 2009 I got five weeks of vacation time at work, and as of the last paycheck I had about 90 hours of PTO left until my anniversary in April. If I work it right, I may not even have any time left to cash out when this year’s allotment is rolled out!
Fail! Spend less time with the wife & kids. That only deepen any emotional attachment to them, which interferes with #7. I can say that I have spent more time with the family, and it has been good.
Well, this one could probably be considered something of a success; Take a vacation to someplace important: like to see the largest ball of twine. The only ‘vacation’ we took was to Kentucky to see Bryce’s graduation from Basic Training. We spent a little extra time there and visited Mammoth Cave, the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Memorial, and the Coca-Cola Memorabilia Museum; none of which measure up (down?) to the largest ball of twine, but weren’t really high on the excitement meter. Yvonne pulled a week in Peru on a medical mission trip last summer, and plans to go back later this month, but I just hung out with the boys that week.
This one was another failure; Stop going home for lunch or bringing a sack lunch to work: We all need to do our part for stimulating the economy, and fast food restaurants play an important role in that, right? I didn’t keep count, but I know I spent a lot less money on fast food lunches in 2009.
And another failure; Quit giving money & time to charity. It’s time to let someone else develop character in that way. Gave way more to charity this year, plus I added a volunteer gig to hosting & maintaining the website for Groove Inc., even though Ian decided he didn’t want to participate in Groove at all this year. Oh well, they can use the help.
This one might be considered something of a success; hit the mark in a way… Sell my car and buy a mid-’70’s Camaro or Monte Carlo with a really loud stereo system, mag wheels, air shocks and wide tires in back. I’ll also need to grow a mullet to complete the image. No mullet, but I did manage to buy not one but two ’80-something BMWs. Neither has an impressive stereo system nor mag wheels, but both do have alloy wheels, and the latter one has some pretty wide tires all around. The problem is that the earlier one had a lot of issues and needed a lot of work (and still does) which kept me from getting around to some home improvement projects… If I had it to do over again I’d probably have held out for an e28 in better shape, but I really like these cars, in spite of the little niggling problems with them! Did I say ‘no mullet’?
Fail. Shower and change clothes once a week, whether I need it or not. A guy has to do his part to to reduce water usage. In fact our household is using more water than ever, since Caleb reached the age where a daily shower is pretty much a necessity for the health and well being of those around him.
Fail here too. Cash out my 401k accounts. The markets are going nowhere fast, and just think of the fun I could have with all that money. Although I was sorely tempted to do just that on a number of occasions, and still think it might be a good idea. Not to have fun with the money, but maybe to use it to pay off our mortgage and invest in something that might actually appreciate and not be available for the Washington bureaucrats to eventually seize to bankroll Social Security, Medicare and the mess they’ll end up making with their health insurance reform legislation.
Success on this one I’m afraid. Stay up later still every night. Think of all the late-night TV and web browsing I can get done instead of sleeping. Most days at work I feel like I’m spinning wheels anyway, so showing up half asleep shouldn’t affect a thing productivity-wise. It’s not uncommon to find me dragging myself to bed between 1-2am, then back up at 6:15 to get a head start on getting the boys up for school. Part of the problem though is that if I go to bed earlier I end up getting up earlier, without much gain in sleep time. Not sure if what I have constitutes a sleep disorder or what… Maybe time to retire our 24 year old mattress and get something that won’t have me waking up with aching shoulders & hips multiple times a night.
So there it is. I can’t say the reverse psychology worked, but at least it was at least different (if not better) than the typical “I resolve to do better” type list. I could probably keep the same list for 2010 (is that “twenty-ten” or “two-thousand-ten”?) since I still have some work to do. Hmmm… Maybe I’ll decide on that later.
