I pretty much feel like I’ve been treading water all year. I’ve managed
to keep my head up, but I’m haven’t really gotten anywhere. So like so many
others, I’m making some resolutions to get things rolling again.
This is something of a big deal for me. I’ve always resolutely resisted
resolutions. (Try saying that out loud five times fast. Great. With all those
sibilants, you now have plenty of water to mop your holiday-mucky floor. You’re
welcome.)
Yes, resolving to not hold myself to any standards at the beginning of
the year has always been my game. Why set myself up for failure? In the middle
of February when everyone else has stopped going to the gym, when they have
begun to carb themselves silly once more, when only one hour of Facebook is
back up to eight, I’ve been smug in my refusal to attempt accomplishment at
all. While all the rest look guilty, I have already gained acceptance of my
lack of progress. There is peace in consistent mediocrity.
However, I do feel a drive to do better this coming year. I will
probably regret this small burst of ambition. Indeed, I have tried to ignore
its call. Yet it is as insistent as my son wanting a cookie. It will not stop
badgering me. So for 2015, here are my New Year’s resolutions:
1. I resolve to see my floors at least four times this year.
My house is in a state of perpetual wreck-titude. It wasn’t always this
way. I used to keep a nice, clean home. Then a cute but sloppy man-child
entered my life. We got married and had a son, who is also very messy. At some
point, I threw in the towel, and my home went into permanent ‘looks like a
tornado hit’ mode.
Not that removing the obstacle course of toys, musical instruments,
wires, and old popcorn will make matters much better. The layer of dropped
amusements, food, and Angry Birds underwear hides battered and stained linoleum
that was new in 1972. I think that floor is a major part of why the vacuum
cleaner and mop are gathering dust. It’s nice to forget that only a contractor
can make my house look like decent people who give a darn live in it.
2. I resolve to get out among other humans more often.
I work at home. My son despises school activities, so we never attend
anything beyond his regular school day. Almost all of my friends live out of
town ... most live out of state. I am not one to go out on my own, so my social
life pretty much consists of Hubs and Kiddo. I sit in my house working, raising
the boy, and generally being a hermit.
Most of the time, I’m perfectly content with the way things are. After
all, writing is real work that is mentally exhausting. Plus Kiddo takes a lot
of time and energy. I’m usually a limp noodle by the end of the day. Yet there
is the gnawing feeling that something is missing. Like fun. Yeah, I remember
something about getting out and laughing and expanding my horizons in some
fashion. It’s there like some vague hazy dream someone else once had.
So this year, I’m going to poke my head outside my door from time to
time. I’m going to see what all those other people I supposedly share the
planet with are up to. Maybe I’ll take a class. Maybe I’ll just go for walks in
populated areas. Maybe someone will talk to me. Maybe I’ll talk back and have
an actual conversation that doesn’t consist of, “Hey! Stop throwing popcorn on
our ugly floor. Pick up your underwear! Tell your son to stop goofing off and
do his homework!”
3. I resolve to drink lots of coffee.
Okay, so I already do that on a championship level. But there has to be
one thing there that I know I can succeed at when I join the rest of you in the
mid-February Guilt Hunch.
Happy New Year, all. I hope you have a wonderful 2015.
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