Happy New Year....In Moderation

Merry New Year!!

I've resolved to write more in 2010.

The reason I didn't revive my blog on January first was that I had already engaged in some serious self-sabotage before even getting started. You see, I did the whole, "I'm going to write on my blog every single day" thing. It's a way too ambitious goal and so, knowing full well that I would never come close to making it, I quit before I even tried.

That's the thing with New Year's resolutions. They're always too damn big and overly ambitious. We set ourselves up for failure by making our goals way too lofty and unattainable.

Take, as a case in point, the common resolution to get to the gym. People don't simply resolve to get to the gym a few times a week. They promise themselves they'll get there every single day of the new year. Realistic? Hardly. Life gets in the way. The very first day the person does NOT get to the gym, he immediately feels as if he's failed, and then he stops going altogether.

We don't just resolve to try to eat better. We tell ourselves we will eat nothing but carrots for an entire year. The first time we indulge in a piece of candy, we throw our healthy eating resolutions out completely and pull up a chair at the local Old Country Buffet and eat ourselves into a diabetic coma.

So, in the spirit of setting realistic goals, ones that I can dust myself off and get back on the horse if I fall off, here's what I'm trying to do:

1. Write more frequently. Maybe I'll publish to my blog a couple of times a week. I had initially thought I would blog every single day. There, see....an overambitious goal. When I failed to take to my blog on January 1st, I figured I'd failed. However, today I thought, "How stupid. Just because I have not written within the first five days of January does that mean that I have to refrain from writing all year?" Hells no. So, here I am, sufficiently dusted off and newly resolved to write when I can. And that's going to have to be good enough.

2. I had originally told myself that I would give up wine and beer forever and ever and ever. Then I had a beer on January 1st. Hey wait, though...that doesn't mean that I have to give up altogether and just hook myself up to a beer IV. So, I've readjusted that goal as well. Now I'm just refraining from having any booze on school nights. It's been working rather nicely. The great thing about it is that I never drank heavily through the week. I might have a beer or two a couple of times a week. But I can live without that. It's easier on the waistline, liver, and wallet.

There are a couple more things I'm going to try to do better or more/less frequently. Notice that I'm not saying there are a few things I'll do perfectly or that I'll always/never do.

I'm resolving to resolve in moderation.