virginiapostrel made mention of the Banished Words List. I’ve just finished reading the 2003 and 2004 lists and I did indeed laugh out loud.
This week’s Dollar Stretcher newsletter included an article by Deborah Taylor Hough titled “One Habit at a Time.”
I’ve been told it takes four to six weeks for any action to become a habit. So, keeping that in mind, one way I’m going to insure my success at keeping my New Year’s resolutions this year is by working on only one new habit at a time each month. Then, every time I turn a calendar page, I’ll work on developing a different new habit.
At the end of the year, I could easily have twelve new positive habits in my life. Once something’s become a habit, it’s simply a part of my life and not something I’ll even have to think about anymore.
With that excellent suggestion in mind, I decided to look again at the resolutions I made for the coming year back on my birthday.
1) Improve my health. That’s my main priority right now. The changes I’m making to do that are:
A – no more caffeine. I drank the last of my coffee this morning and I’ve asked Sam not to buy any more for me.
I’m no longer drinking coffee daily, but I do have some occasionally. When I don’t have it, I don’t get a withdrawal headache. That’s good. But it really would be for the best if I transfer my desire for a hot, comforting drink to something healthier.
B – keep working on finding a way to get the meds I need. To that end, I’m applying for Social Security disability.
That application is in process, and I’ve gotten the help I need so that I won’t be overwhelmed by it again. I’ve also identified ways to get most of the medications I need within the next 6-8 weeks, and done what I need to do to make that happen.
C – find SOME way to get access to a pool heated to the Arthritis Foundation’s standards for water exercise. So I’ll be going to the nearest YMCA to see if I can manage a membership somehow.
We’re joining the nearest Y next week!
D – change what I eat. I’ve already done that in some ways, but I need to keep it up. I plan to start the South Beach Diet as soon as I’ve gotten past the decaffeination process. I’d be happier if Sam were to do that with me, and I know it would be easier—but I don’t want to delay anymore.
I haven’t done this yet. I need to sit down with sambear and shadowkatt and do some meal planning. I said somewhere else that I’ve realized that part of healing my relationship with food is going to involve being more involved with meal planning and preparation. I have been more involved than before, but it isn’t enough yet.
E – find some kind of bodywork I can afford on a regular basis. PDH has been very good, so I should talk to keiracaitlyn about that.
I haven’t even begun this one.
How will I know when I’ve reached this goal? Well, being able to manage the other things on my list consistently would be great! But quantifiably, most of my days are currently at a seven at best, an eight at the moment, on this pain scale (and since I don’t HAVE painkillers like Ultram, that really sucks). I’d like to see that change so that my average day is no worse than a 6, and preferably more like a 4-5.
We got a new mattress and I definitely do feel better already. I need to get new shoes soon, as I felt a major difference this summer when I started wearing truly supportive shoes for the first time. Since those are sandals, they’re a bit breezy for wearing now.
Be a better student.
I need to be more organized and more realistic about my course loads. I want to get As in all my courses without sending myself into flare doing it.
It’s a good thing I read these. I was just pondering trying to take lots more classes this semester. I know I shouldn’t, but there’s part of me that still feels like the youngster who could carry such loads and work and take care of home and husband without a hitch. That isn’t me now. So, I need to drop some of the courses for which I’m registered and finish my plan for making up my incompletes from last semester. Since the semester is just about to start, I think this one needs to be my special goal for January.
3) Interact socially with people in the real world more often.
I’ve withdrawn into my shell a lot in the last six months or so due to my health problems. I’m hoping they’ll improve soon, and then I won’t have an excuse. Getting into another singing group would certainly be a good motivator. I need to set an actual “goal” though, and one social event outside the house a week seems reasonable.
I’m not there yet, but I have gone out a little more. curiousmay9 is very good at pulling me out of the house 🙂 I even wish that I was registered for GaFilk or could go, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. (And we might have a houseguest that weekend who we don’t see nearly often enough.) I did re-establish contact with a dear old friend, which is definitely a social thing.
4) Keep my Artist active.
I stopped doing The Artist’s Way a while back. I need to get back on the Way and honor my creative impulses in other ways, too. Quantifiably, I want to do something creative every day, if only for 15 minutes, and do something just for fun for at least 30 minutes each day.
Hmm. I haven’t gone back to AW at all yet. I have been stitching a lot, which counts. And I’ve been working on designing more patterns.
I’m wondering if maybe I should sit myself down at the beginning of each month and look at where I am with my resolutions. That way I’ll be more aware of what I have accomplished, and where I haven’t yet met my goals.
