2012

Hi there lovemuffins,
Happy 2012.
Did you pick a word for the year? Do you have resolutions or goals? Are you filled with the promise of a clean start, a veggie-packed fridge and a penciled in gym routine?
I am.

For your reading pleasure, here’s my 2012 list of resol-goals.
Keep a dinner diary and a memory jar
Create a weekly menu/budget
Eliminate clutter-find room in my closet and empty one drawer
More social, less hermit
Check in with my far flung friends once a month
More thrift stores, less mall
Host at least four parties/dinner parties (1 down)
Finish the play
Write 52 poems
More temperance, less hangovers
Stick to a vitamin and skin care routine for 30 days
Run one race a month (already signed up for January!)
Try one new fitness class/activity a month (first up, Crossfit)
More water, less diet coke
Read 75 books, 25 of them biographies
Do six things that scare me
More pavement, less treadmill

 

I am giddy with excitement. I have big plans for this year and I can’t wait to get started on becoming a slightly better version of myself.
But I’m also a realist. I’m staying away from the over-crowed area of gym for a while, because I know it makes me cranky. My freezer is packed full of wheat-free (something new, and something I’ll tell you about later), veggie-filled meals, but I have no guilt about the handful of soul-restoring hershey kisses I ate last night. I know some days I’ll be too tired to take the dog for the run I promised him. Sometimes I’ll fall asleep in my makeup. Sometimes I’ll spend too much at Target and not make my monthly savings goals.
And that will be OK.
 I may decide in three months that I no longer want to write a poem every week or run another 5k, and so my resolution list has an out clause. I will do all of these things until they no longer bring me joy.

Because this year, Joy is the word I’m focusing on.
I’m putting happiness at the top of my to-do list because, simply, I’m tired of not being the Joyful Girl my ipod inscription says I am.
I find it easier and easier to be an Eeyore. Some days envy and worry brow beat me into not wanting to leave the couch. Then I fall into this vicious cycle of being mad at myself for being unhappy and it gets harder and harder to pull myself out of that place. So, this year, I’m making a conscious effort to act joyful. To do things that I know make me happy and  to act the way I want to feel.

In 2012 I’m going to be throwing joy seeds all over the place, Snoopy dancing, and trying to be the person my dog thinks I am.

How about you?