Resolutions Past--Measuring Up

I reviewed some of my public Resolutions Past. I went through some of my public declarations of resolutions in my journal and I have to say that creating new lists is hardly necessary. Some items from the old ones will do fine. Life is funny in that accomplishments can be pushed aside by failures. Achievements can be minimized by a 'what have you done lately' mentality. As always, The Visible Woman has these thoughts about measuring up out in public. In case you don't want to slog through a search of my old journals, here is a representative list that I'll examine over the next few days.

• Lose five pounds. [This is a easy goal, it would seem. The spam says '32 pounds in three weeks' or '12.5 pounds in three days' but, no, my goal is to lose five more pounds and stay there.]
• Drink more water.
• Eat more healthy food. Fruit! Vegetables! Every day.
• Write! Not just this journal. All the short stories I've outlined. All the essays. Start on the novels and non-fiction books.
• Find an appropriate volunteer activity.
• Travel and, when I do, take the time to prepare by reading books.
• Pay more attention to investments and our budget. Save money.
• Continue my workouts and start playing tennis and maybe racquetball.
• Take Bridge lessons and learn more about Bridge.
• Cook more. Start making crêpes again.
• Get the closets, garage, drawers, shed, yard, storage room clean and keep them that way.
• Learn to make a movie.
• Learn more about photography.
• Geez, this list is too long...make shorter lists.
• Ride the bus and write about it.
• Get my mother's things sold or given away or packed and sent to my relatives.
• Read more books.
• Do some Windows programming and JavaScript and learn Linux.
• Hmmm...it's the same every year, isn't it? Why don't I make one list for all time (work harder, read, write, exercise, eat better, learn stuff, save money, lose weight, be a better person).

What's sad is that this list was made four years ago. And what have I done about all that? Not much. I think I lost five pounds that following year. In fact and think I lost twenty and gained ten back. These resolutions came a few months after my mother's death and a few months after I retired. So it was time to make some changes.

The thing about weight is that it is not, in and of itself, an indicator of health. But I do think that, compared to my 2002 self that I not only weigh less (about fifteen pounds less than when that was written) but am in better aerobic health, more flexible and have more muscle. Still, I think the pundits would say I am overweight if not obese. I should probably lose 15 or 20 pounds. However, I think I'm going to just make a resolution for 2007 to lose five pounds again. And I will do this by eating one less piece of cheese each day!

So we have the first resolution for 2007. Lose Five Pounds. In the coming days we will examine the rest of the list above and construct a new set of bullet points for the coming year.