Recently I read an article about New Year’s resolutions and how long before they’re forgotten.
The list of the most popular resolutions included: eating better, saving money, learning a new skill, spending more time with family, reducing stress, getting organized, read more, get more sleep, quit or reduce smoking/drinking and getting more exercise.
According to a recent study the average life span of a resolution is less than four months with only 6 to 9% making it the whole year. In fact the second Friday in January is nicknamed “Quitter’s Day” because so many folks are through with their Jan. 1st’s good intentions.
Looking through the list I realized I have most of those subjects under control in my life (which may be my justification for not making new resolutions).
Eating. Since being diagnosed with both lactose and gluten intolerance, I don’t have a lot of choices about what I eat, so basically it’s lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meat and not too much starch or sugar.
Save money. That’s definitely one that I don’t have to work on. “Frugal” could be my middle name. My husband says I’m cheap. I say I’m thrifty and prudent!
Learn a new skill. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks and I’m definitely old — besides I can’t think of anything I want to learn.
Spend more time with family. Mike and I are very fortunate that our kids/grandkids live in Washington state so we get to see them quite often, besides spending several days all together every summer at Sun Lakes and every other year a week in Mexico.
Reduce stress. I pretty much have a stress-free life: I really like my job and it’s pretty low-key, our house if relatively low-maintenance, and after 55 years of marriage Mike and I practically read each others’ mind and keep tension and anxiety at a low level.
Get organized. I’ve got this one covered. I’m a list maker — lists about anything and everything — shopping lists at Costco, Grocery Outlet and Trader Joe’s, projects (big and small) around the house, things that I keep forgetting to tell Mike. And I take great joy in crossing things off the lists.
Get more sleep. My husband would really laugh if I mentioned to him that more sleeping was one of my goals. I already go to bed about 9 at night and can easily sleep until 9 the next morning, unless that dang alarm goes off earlier.
Read more. I don’t think it’s possible for me to read more. I read every chance I get — hard back books that I borrow from the library or ones my co-worker Jerry loans me. Rarely do I actually buy a book but there are a couple that I have purchased ‘cause I re-read them every four or five years.
Quit or reduce smoking/drinking. Mike and I quit smoking in 1987. We were getting ready for a spring break mini-vacation up the Olympic Peninsula and our son Tyler said he really wished we would quit smoking ‘cause in heath class they read about how many people die every year from smoking. We talked about it and decided not to take any cigarettes with us on the trip and after a couple of slip-ups in the ensuing, we haven’t smoked again. Thank goodness!
As for drinking I can’t stand the taste of alcohol, so when I do have a drink it has to taste like Hawaiian Punch — and daiquiris, Mai Tais and Singapore slings are so sweet it’s difficult to drink to excess. Besides if I drink more than two drinks, I fall asleep.
And then there’s exercise. There is not a doubt in my mind that exercise is really good for me. And when I say “exercise” I mean walking. Gone are the days when I would go to Timber Gym three days a week. But I still try to walk at least five days a week. When I say “try to walk” I should emphasize the word “try.” For years, most days after work (and usually one day on the weekend), I would walk the loop around our neighborhood. It didn’t matter what the weather was, I was walking. Perfect weather was clear skies and 55 to 79 degrees. It didn’t matter if it was raining so hard the raindrops were bouncing back a couple of inches off the pavement, it didn’t matter if it was hot as heck. Most days as I was driving home from work I would come up with a list of excuses why I wasn’t going for a walk that evening — I was too tired, it was too humid, there was too much to do at home. I really just wanted to put on my jammies, eat dinner and watch TV. But after actually going for the walk I knew I had made the right decision and I slept so much better after a little bit of exercise.
Then several months ago, for a reason I cannot remember, I stopped walking — not stopped a bit at a time but all at once I stopped walking. And then it became a habit not to walk.
I’m still of that mindset. I know I should walk. I feel better when I walk. Maybe I’ll start tomorrow — fingers crossed.
