Posts Tagged "resolutions"
You will learn my name, 2011
The other day I had a blast playing around with Monina Velarde’s New Year’s Resolution generator and thought this would be a fabulous way of committing my resolutions, or goals, in writing because you’re more likely to follow through on goals when they’re written down. Way to play the guilt card on yourself. But seriously, even the Bible speaks of the importance of writing down your visions [Habakuk 2:2] and making them clear so I’m going to follow through on this. So, for your viewing pleasure, may I present my Resolutions for 2011 [all screen shots from the generator]:
I plan on setting aside at least 15-20 minutes every day to write something. I might not always post what I write, but I want to get back into the habit of writing more often. Not only will this help me professionally, but this exercise will help me to strengthen my writing as a whole and hopefully get me to fall back in love with writing. I really enjoy writing and feel that it’s the best way for me to express myself. I’ve been writing short stories since I was in elementary school. My ethics professor [who will be written about soon - seriously, I hearted him] had some very nice things to say about my writing style that really made me feel good [who doesn't like an unsolicited compliment like that every now and again?] and encouraged me to keep writing, and so, I will.
I can already say hello in English, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, French and Italian but what my main goal is to graduate to at least a first grade level in Korean. I know I’ve been saying this for years but I really feel it this year. The bf gave me a little notebook to write Korean words in and I’m itching to make it happen and he has linked me to a pretty cool Korean podcast that I actually like. So the plan is to set aside another 15 minutes or so to work on my Korean and to get my mom in on the action to serve as a kind of additional tutor. I will learn this language. And then make my kids learn it when they’re little.
Folks, this will be the year that I get off of unemployment and happily reenter the workforce. I’m tired of not earning a paycheck and now that I have a brand spanking new MBA degree, I want to put that baby to use! But I’m looking forward to once again being a contributing member of society. I have actually applied for a dream job earlier this month but I know that God will direct my path to that perfect job. I’m more optimistic about my job search this time around because I know there’s nothing keeping me back now. Watch out world, I’m coming back!
I really need to step away from the computer every once and again and get things done. I’ve lost many a day to the time suck that is the Internet, whether it’s Facebook, Tastespotting and my Google Reader [and okay, email] and couldn’t get things done because, hey, I ran out of time. But this year I vow to be a better manager of my time, I will need to be since I’ll be working and I won’t have school to worry about so I’ll have more time to play with. I can’t spend all day playing around on the internet when I have actual things to do, things that don’t involve writing papers or doing research, you know, FUN THINGS. More time in 2011!
I am at my happiest when I am healthy and active, so this year I plan on getting back into jogging and work towards a completing a 10k [6.2 miles! eeek!]. I’ve already picked out a possible 5k race to get me started and help me stay motivated in the early months and plan on trying to run at least two races this year. I work better when I have a tangible goal to work for so this will be the year of the race.
I also plan on spending some dedicated time in personal Bible study and prayer. God is not my co-pilot; He is my pilot and I need to let go of things and let Him handle them in His infinite wisdom. I’m always endeavoring to improve my personal relationship with God and like any relationship, it takes constant maintenance.
This year will be busy. The bf is coming to visit, we’re celebrating our 6th anniversary and hopefully making some important moves and decisions this year, I’m walking in my masters’ ceremony in May, Lindsey is graduating from UCLA in June, I’m standing in a wedding in July [watch out Seattle, I'm ready for round two! I've got my traveling spork!], helping with my church’s Vacation Bible Camp, running in a few races, my bestie’s expecting her first kid, I’m turning the big 3-0…there are a lot of things going on and I plan on living in the moment and enjoying each minute. Life is not guaranteed and I refuse miss out on life’s big and small moments by letting them simply past by. I will be present in every moment, soaking in the feeling as I experience them and committing them to memory.
Every year I vow to make the new year the “Best Year Ever” and while I didn’t quite make it this year, I am looking forward to making this attempt this year. There are a lot of fun things happening this year and I plan on making the most of every moment. I don’t want to look back on my life and think about all the things I should or could have done but I want to think about the memories of the things I did do. I want to try to reduce the hesitance of doing something and just do it, especially if I already want to do it. There’s no way I’m going to try to do everything in one year [that would be silly! and exhausting] but I think I’m going to try to do more things instead of thinking of doing things. I’ve been talking about getting a passport for years, maybe this year will be the year I actually do it, maybe I’ll learn new recipes and cook and bake more, maybe I’ll actually learn how to make a proper frosting from scratch and how to decorate [or at least ice] cakes correctly. Maybe I’ll get out and explore this beautiful state more, snowboard and surf…see, there are many ways to carpe diem.
2011 is the year I will carpe diem.
Make your own resolutions here!
The heavy truth
I like to think that I’m a fairly healthy person. I wouldn’t say I’m in the best shape in my life but I do okay. That said, my relationship with my weight and general weight management has been pretty apathetic at best. Yes I care about how I look in my clothing and I really do like being active, I just can’t seem to motivate myself to actually get up and do it most days.
My weight has always fluctuated throughout my life as is pretty normal. I wouldn’t say that I struggled to keep it in check. I’d let it go and be happy, then look down and notice that my pants don’t fit exactly right or that hey, I really don’t like the fact that my tummy pokes out a lot more than usual. From there I’d make some mediocre attempt at exercising because I never really want to diet. Who wants to go through life NOT eating cake? Or even feeling guilty for eating cake? I prescribe to the “eat smaller portions of everything and move a little bit more” philosophy.
At my heaviest I weighed 160 pounds by my senior year of college, to which no one believes me. Thankfully I carry my weight well but that doesn’t change the fact that I know what I look like underneath all those layers of clothes and I wasn’t happy. I tried to watch what I ate my junior year, going as far as sucking down my fair share of Slim Fast drinks and trying to count calories in the dining hall but to no avail. By my senior year, I was finally motivated [read: FED UP] enough to sign up for an aerobics class and lost 20 pounds that first semester. What helped was that I was no longer in the dorms and responsible for making my own meals which largely consisted of variations of pasta and chicken and didn’t indulge in my weekly large pepperoni pizza with butter flavored crust from Hungry Howie’s [oh so yummy].
Yes I know that eating large pepperoni pizzas with butter flavored crusts BY MYSELF was not the best idea but man, I felt like a champ when I finished it. It’s like feeling empowered when you finish a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting but feeling quite piggish when you only eat half. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m saying.
Anywho, my sisters have managed to lose weight and look great, however, I started to feel kind of frumpy when I stand anywhere within sight of them and since I stopped going to yoga once school started and am now not working, I’m not as active as I used to be and wouldn’t you know, my weight has slowly inched up towards my threshold. So it’s time for me to do something.
I made a real deal resolution in hopes of combating this: work out at least twice a week. I know it seems like a really low number but I need to create attainable goals to motivate and encourage myself to continue. Baby steps people. I plan on writing down my progress in a notebook and maybe doing a monthly check-in here on the good old blog in hopes of keeping me honest and motivated to continue. But, and this is a big but, take any weight loss within the first two months with a grain of salt. I’ll be participating in my church’s annual consecration fast so I’ll only be eating one meal a day with more fruit and stuff as snacks so obviously that will affect the results. That said, I’ll be tailoring my workouts to more stretch/yoga/pilates routines and only doing a cardio workout once a week. I’m not going to be eating enough to support a more strenuous workout program so I’m not even going to try. I want to do this right.
I’m hoping that by putting this out there into the world I’ll be able to stick to it. I’m optimistic that I will and am looking forward to beginning. Though I think I’m anticipating being able to eat breakfast and bacon again more. But aside from that, being able to work on myself both spiritually and physically? That’s worth more than eating bacon.
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