Resolution, Schmesolution

I've not had a New Years Resolution in YEARS, and I'll tell you why: as an obsessive list-maker and goal-setter, January 1st is no more magical for me than August 17 or May 22 or any other day of the year. I don't have more stick-to-it-ness today than I will in a month or six months, and the things I really want to do, really want to accomplish will happen because, like a dog on a bone, when I want something, dangit, I'm going to have/earn/do it. I find long-term goals overwhelming. I have some, yes, but I don't write them down. Kind of a personal taboo, I suppose. This is how I'm wired (or weird ;) ). There's probably some medical acronym to describe this (ADD, OCD...?).

I've been making lists since I can remember, less for scoring achievement points and more for sorting through my rapid-fire thoughts. I love lists! I can see, on paper, what's going on in my head, and I can cross things off. Win win!

Matt and I went shopping returning today, and he ran off to look at something without me for a bit. While I waited for him, I whipped out my little book and made a list. Why? Not because it's 2010, not because I suddenly have more gusto and more self-discipline in January than I do the rest of the months of the year... No, I made a list because it's a compulsion of mine, and I find it calming. My brain has been going crazy with ideas lately, and the only way I can remember them is to catch them and stick them to something solid. This happens all year.

There seems to be this rush to make things better, starting now, because it's January. It's a new year - a new decade, even! I get that. But tomorrow will be a new day. Next week will be a new week. February is just around the corner. New beginnings happen all the time. Don't discount Mondays!

So I guess my point is this: if you're anything like me, you have no business mapping out the whole next year. Sometime around the 12th of January, you're going to (like me) realize that 20 lbs is a long way counter-clockwise on the scale, $XXXX is an overwhelming amount to commit to saving, 50 new designs licensed is really scary, and no matter how hard you try, that person over there is going to give you ulcers whether you're nice as pie or not. There's also a chance that you'll realize that you set out to do ABC and you should really be doing DEF. (This has happened to me so many times, I've lost count.)

Rather than all this, my preference is to work toward saying, "Today, I ate well and went running and put aside $50. Today, I drew one awesome thing that I love. Today, I was nicer than I wanted to be when she annoyed me." And you know what? Before you know it, you're forming good habits and stringing together a long train of good Todays. 365 of those and you've accomplished a lot in a year!