Since our out-of-town company arrives this evening for a stay of a week, I may not be posting much over the next few days and figure that I’ll get something written about the resolutions I’m making as of RIGHT NOW. (Why should I wait until Jan. 1?) These resolutions are in the area of small, consistent actions, the kind of thing that I hate doing. I mean, like, DESPISE. My kitchen has been a disaster zone for the past week, for example, because I never got it completely cleaned up after last week’s big baking extravaganza for our church’s Christmas party and then haven’t been very consistent about cleaning up after meals since then.(If my dear husband weren’t so faithful about loading and unloading the dishwasher and washing up baking pans, I really wonder if we’d be able to get into the room.)
So here’s what I’m attempting to put in place the following (some of which are nothing new):1. No sitting down to write after breakfast until morning dailies are done and I’m showered and dressed. Otherwise, I can be in my bathrobe with the detritus of the day’s meals still on the table at 3:00 in the afternoon. That’s one of the disadvantages of working for yourself. Actually, I sat down to start this post at about 9:00 and realized, wow, I can’t do this because I’m still in my sleep t-shirt and the kitchen is a mess. I haven’t made the bed or cleaned off the bathroom counter. So I made myself get up and get started on those jobs. Then I realized that I’d better get to Costco to buy the items that I tried to buy yesterday but couldn’t because I didn’t have the correct credit card in my wallet. So I did that. And then I came home with this mammoth pot roast to use for making stew. (You should have seen the people crowding around the guy at the meat department as he brought out a new batch of roasts. Man, it was exciting!) The afternoon flew by, as they say. So now I’m back to finishing this post at 7:00 PM, somewhere around ten hours from the time I started it. My shopping is done, I have a beautiful batch of stew all made to be used for a company dinner this week, and I’ve done massive cleanup work in the kitchen–with still more to go. But I’m in so much better shape than I would have been had I not said to myself, ‘I can’t do this now. I have to keep my resolution.’
2. Using my nasal rinse and allergy spray every single morning. (TMI, perhaps?) The thing of it is, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve had terrible allergy problems for the past eight years or so, problems that manifest themselves not in the usual sneezing, itchy eyes and runny nose, but in a horrible raw scratchy feeling at the back of my throat. After all sorts of treatments that haven’t worked, I’ve finally realized that these two simple, inexpensive and non-prescription nostrums (ha) are pretty effective. And, as I’ve also said, I get relief and then forget to do the things that give me the relief until the symptoms return. And then I feel that scratchiness creeping back and think, ‘Oh no! I haven’t been doing my stuff!’ Those two actions have to be part of my morning routine.
3. Going for my 3.5-mile walk at least four times a week. Honestly, I thought that this habit was so ingrained that I would never have to re-establish it. But a combination of various factors, including the onset of some really cold weather, have derailed it, and me. Gretchen Rubin talks about how fragile good habits can be, and she’s right. I doubt very much that I’m going to get much walking done this coming week what with everything else that will be going on, but I’ll try to get in at least a couple of times. And week after next–bam!
4. No sugar. This isn’t all that small of an effort, but it has to be consistent. And it is the one item on the list that I’m already doing, having started abstaining back sometime around the first of this month. I tasted a few items that I made for last week’s party, and I’ve allowed myself some (not at all sweet) biscotti, but other than that I’ve stayed off the sugar–not drinking it, eating it, or sprinkling it. Gary Taubes’ new book is coming out Dec. 27, and I’ll be writing a full post on his ideas when I review it. I will say that those few pounds I’ve been wanting to lose have pretty much vanished, and I do feel better–more energetic.
Well, four resolutions are probably plenty for now. If I just stick to these, what a difference they will make! How about you? What small, consistent changes do you need to make in your life?