Annual

greetings, 2012! i’m sure you will pass in a flash in the same way other years have provided you don’t end the world in a flash as some have predicted you will. for the record, i don’t think you will. i do think you’ll continue to shake things up as your brethren have in recent years, though i don’t think you’ll be as dramatic and i really hope we can be friends. i’ve always preferred even-numbered years anyway. did i mention how great your hair looks today?

are you as excited as i am about the places we’ll go and things we’ll do together? i’ve got big plans for us, plans that you will surely unravel and replace with your own machinations against the backdrop of mocking laughter, but as our time together is still undefined don’t ruin my reveries yet, ok?

before we look ahead, let’s look back at last year’s resolutions, which i did ok with overall. i certainly did much in the way of “fixing the damn house.” i also tried to “be a better friend” by being more available and hopefully did ok with the people closest to me. i did a piss poor job at “taking writing holidays” but made up for it by taking a few writing classes, which did produce some work. sadly, i am not fully “regular with my meditation practice” so this resolution will again appear on this year’s list.

it is a long list this year, one i started drafting in my offline journal back in november. that list had 12 very detailed resolutions that are too personal to be replicated here, though they appear in sanitized and abbreviated form below. it seems i have a lot of self-improvement to do. no surprises there.

• make healthy choices: this is really the biggie where all roads begin and end. it touches everything — from food, friends, men, work and leisure time. i’ve come to understand that doing the right thing is often the hardest thing to do, but that should never be a reason not to do it. so from now on, i will do what is right even when i don’t want to, which is nearly always.

• speaking of health: turning 35 was far worse than turning 30 in terms of that whole Aging Rapidly thing. i have to get a grip on this and plan to in the form of another meatless february (and maybe longer if i can muster the resolve), juicing regularly, meditating daily instead of only weekly, exercising three times a week, going to bed early, flossing every night and drinking the blood of virgins to attain immortality.

• debt reduction: this one will be tough but the plan is to cut my debt in half by year’s end. (but if the world does end in 2012, i’ll be so pissed i didn’t take that money to a tropical island instead.) my tax refund and work bonuses should help me with this goal as long as building the deck doesn’t run wildly away from the budget, and i’m sure it won’t. (hahahahaha!)

• publish or perish: i had been kicking myself the last few weeks of 2011 for not getting a single thing published all year and i refuse to be in the same boat when a meteor hits the earth this december. i simply must see my name in the bright lights of the internet (beyond this blog), and i plan to by being diligent about writing and submitting, while casting aside my deep, dark, paralyzing fear of rejection.

• don’t sweat the small stuff: i’m pretty good with this already, though i still find myself clinging to a few pet peeves that drive me absolutely bonkers. a few that kept coming up in 2011, particularly with the home remodel, involved being given unsolicited advice and being babied. these obviously speak to a larger control issue that resists people trying to take care of me for fear that it makes me seem incompetent. it’s lame and i need to get over it. i also need to get better at asking for help instead of isolating myself when i’m facing challenges.

i sense that this year will center largely on work and health for me more than anything else. i’m not sure why and i’m not thrilled about it as i’d rather put the focus on love and travel. i’m sure there will be a little of those sprinkled in as well, but not as the main event. i’m simply too focused on my other goals. now if you’ll excuse me, i need to get to work.