Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Of Resolutions and Complete Life Changes

Well, like usual I am late on posting this...about 6 days late in writing about resolutions. Oh, I bet you are all excited to read about another person talking about losing weight, quitting smoking, spending less on asparagus, or whatever.

I make a bad joke, but I am a bit serious as well. I mean, maybe it is an American thing, but how many people stick with resolutions and if they do, for how long? I have never been one to really even set a resolution. Although, I do generally think about certain things that I would like to change about myself and my life. To be honest, I generally do that every day. You see, I think that I am committing one of the seven deadly sins on a daily basis. Though, looking around me, I see it happening everywhere so I am not alone. Which one you may ask? Sloth...or better yet known as laziness. Actually, I would like to think that I am not so much lazy as I am just unmotivated at times. I am not sure if there is a difference though. I think there is.

I see laziness as never actually DOING anything, whereas unmotivated is just not WANTING to do anything. The way I see it, unmotivated people actually do things (which I do), just not all the time. There are times when I get focused on something and can just work and work until I am done. However, there are just some days where I feel out of energy and really do not want to do much. Although, when I am just sitting watching TV or something my conscious is loud and active. Though I am not motivated to actually do so, I am mentally kicking myself in the butt for sitting around when there is just so much more to be done.

I think I am at the point where I can actually pinpoint what my problem/s is/are, but I need to get the motivation and perseverance to actually take action on it. I mention perseverance because once I get past the motivation aspect, my perseverance goes kaput. For instance, I started on a cafe motorcycle building project several months ago. I was so excited to get started when I got it that I spent 4 days dismantling the entire bike. Then...nothing...it is still in pieces in my basement just waiting for me to get back to it. For me I tend to get bored and something else usually comes up.

I have a lot going on (FT work, FT school, 3 kids, school activities, sports, coaching, scouts, etc.) and mine and my wife's schedules are weird too - I am scheduled to work from 8-5 and she works from 6p-3a, needless to say that is grueling. The good news is that we both work from home; however, the bad news is that we both work from home. Huh? The reason working from home is bad is because it is hard to separate work from home. I get distracted with home things sometimes when working and vice versa. I also have a bad habit of getting on my wife's schedule. When I am doing schoolwork, I generally do not get in bed until like 1:00 Am most nights. However, since my wife has started working until 3:00, I have not been going to bed until 3:00. I then have to get up at 7:00 to get the kids ready for school. Needless to say, I am tired!

Another reason I am sure I am unmotivated is because I a.) smoke (15 years) and b.) do not exercise. Actually that is an understatement. I work sitting down and have a lot of school work so I am sitting down then as well. Luckily I have not gained any weight or anything (who has time to eat with that schedule?) I hate it! I really want to stop both of those - meaning stop smoking and start exercising. I keep lying to myself and say that I do not have time to do so. This has been going on 2 years saying that now. The honest thing is that I do not have time NOT to.

I am also a HORRIBLE planner. Hate is a strong word and I rarely use it, but I HATE planning. I will admit though that when I do have a plan, schedule (and STICK-TO-IT) I usually get a lot more done. Hmm, imagine that! Usually I justify not planning by stating I am not good at it, so it takes me too long to do it, which is taking away time I am actually doing it! (I seriously think that I have Adult ADD or something!).

So, what is my point? I am not sure - I hadn't planned on having a point. But I suppose it is to say that I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. They do not work in my opinion. They are just created to be broken - and broken quickly. However, I do have goals for myself that it just so happens that I thought of right around the New Year. I refuse to call them New Year's resolutions because I do not want to break them. I need to get on a schedule with as much stuff as I have going on. I need to plan ahead and really want to stop smoking and exercise more. We shall see what the future holds. I have a whole lot more things that I want to do as well. So it is sort of a resolution package, if you will. I want to spend more time with my family, take my kids to do at least one fun thing once a week, take an actual family vacation this year, remodel and improve the house, among others. I reckon if I have a whole bunch of goals, I will meet at least one - hopefully. Quantity equals quality!
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