Resolution

I am an obsessive list maker. Things like best movies ever, presidents of the US, books I’ve read, you name it, any type of minutiae that has in some way touched my life, I will make a list for it. Obviously I’m a whack-a-doodle, but I can’t help it.

However, this time of year I feel validated because everyone has published a list of the “best of” and “worst of” things or events for the previous year. They are everywhere. But, no one seems to want to talk about their list of new year resolutions from the previous year. I’m guessing it’s because not many of us have achieved the things that we resolved to do this week, a year ago. Go figure.

Here in Mexico, it is a traditional practice to write each of your resolutions for the new year on a separate piece of paper and then, when you have accomplished the goal, you burn the slip of paper. It’s not quite as fun as drinking champagne or eating grapes (another Mexican new year tradition), but last year Capt’n Clean and I, trying to acclimate to our chosen culture, gave some thought to things we wanted to accomplish in 2022, and then we each wrote our missives down on a sticky notes.

For a while, I kept all my resolutions stuck to the bottom of my computer monitor as a daily reminder of all the things I wasn’t getting done. Finally, I just stuck them all to the inside cover of my Planner Pad. Out of sight, but not out of mind. I knew they were there. This past week I pulled them all out, along with a lighter. Unfortunately, just a few of them were burnable.

If you are like me and most folks, new year resolutions fall into three main categories: health & fitness, work, and travel. Here are a few of mine.

Health & Fitness

I gave up weight loss as a resolution a few years back. I know that when my clothes are getting tight, I need to up the exercise and reduce the calories. So, the weight loss item is not really burnable. But, in 2022, I did 800 miles walk-running and at the gym, so I got to burn that goal. Woo Hoo! I’ll make a new sticky note for 2023, and maybe will up the goal to 801, or 825 if I’m feeling really zippy. 

Work

Since we are officially retired, as far as work, we work on things we like to do. This blog is one of them for me. With today’s blog/cartoon, I have posted at least one new Wimpy Girl cartoon/story each week of 2022. Whew! I can burn that one too. 

One thing that hasn’t budged for uh, 13 YEARS on my resolution list is a novel that I started way back in 2014. Each week, in my Planner Pad, I make a note to revisit and finally FINISH it. I’ve been 13 years a slave to not getting it done! The book is called The Legend of JarMar, and it’s a children’s and grown-up kid’s’ chapter book a lot like Charlotte’s Web in that animals talk. Most chapter books like this are roughly 30k to 50k words, so it’s not like I’m writing War and Peace! I have no excuse.

I’ve decided that I’m going to do the NaNoWriMo model for writing during the months of January and February, and am determined to get ‘er done. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Travel

After 6 years on the road doing house sits and being tourists, frankly, Capt’n Clean and I are all traveled out. So we don’t have any physical travel goals for this next year. We do, however, take a lot of day trips to pueblos magicos (magical towns) here around Morelia, where we live. 

But, both of us love to travel all over the world by reading and listening to books, so I always set a reading goal of 100 books for each year. I use GoodReads to keep track of everything I’ve read throughout the year. I’ve been listening to audiobooks for almost 10 years now and it’s become a part of my existence. I can draw, work out at the gym, cook, etc. while listening to a book. I love it! I’ve never gotten through 100 in a year, but in 2022 I listened to 70. All the new authors who have created magical books for me to devour give me hope for the literary world. 

I’m toying with the idea of a Wimpy Girl book club because I know a lot of you are book fiends like me. What do you think?

So how is your new year resolution list coming along? I’d love to know. Hopefully we both will be burning a lot of sticky notes, and this time next year we’ll be healthier, fitter, more accomplished and smarter. 

Happy New Year!

I’m all for making 2023 the best year ever! Let’s do it!

“Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.”
~Oprah Winfrey