2010: Try Something New, Acceptance

I admit it, in year's past my new year's resolutions have been quite cliche. Exercise more, eat less, get control of my credit card debt. While important goals, I was destined to fail at each of them because I treated them like an annual mission, rather than lifestyle choices that needed to seep into my every day routine.

Every January, I started off with noble intentions. I replaced my office trail mix with a bag of carrots, bought new work out clothes (the old ones didn't fit), and spent hours justifying why my new plan had to wait one more week. Safely guarded under winter sweaters getting a bikini ready body just never made it to the top of my list. As for getting rid of debt...well, I'd start right after paying off those holiday bills.

Three years ago I put a stake in the ground that my new year's resolutions were going to change. I was going to stop setting lofty goals and instead simply commit to being open to new things. The first year, I took a cake decorating class. This has turned into a wonderful hobby.

The year after that I took my first yoga class. Two years later, while less disciplined, it is still a valuable stress reliever and strength builder that I love.

Last year, I committed to writing a blog. While that took some time to get off and running, I'm pleased that blogging has become a habit I truly enjoy.


Reading this you might get the impression everything I tried worked out fabulously. Let me set the record straight that for every fun success, were several failures. For example, I vowed for every fiction book I read, I'd select a biography/autobiography to enjoy. I'm sorry to report that was a dismal failure. I still have two unfinished books sitting on my bedside from the first month of that effort.

And I'll spare you the sad tale of my attempt to cross country ski. Let's just say I'm not a natural!

This year I'm trying something new again, but I'm taking a different approach. This year - I'm cutting myself slack. I'm going to accept the extra ten pounds I've gained. I'm going to accept that Saturday's are about grocery shopping, and I'm going to accept that I need some me time.

Acceptance might not be a traditional new year's resolution, but who said tradition was the only way to go? As far as I'm concerned, 2010 is off to a great start.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying settle. I'm still going to take a knitting class. I'm still going to set new goals for my team at work. But I'm going to accept who I am and appreciate what I have each and every day. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to enjoy the successes even more this way.