Baboon Achievers, Family, Gatherings, holidays, home, Seasons, The Future, Uncategorized

Going Forward in Life

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I know from discussions on previous New Year’s Days that we are not a big resolution group. Around our house, New Year’s Day is traditionally the day we take down the tree, put away the ornaments and other decorations and generally straighten and clean up.  It feels like a fresh start after the big holiday season so it’s easy to understand how folks can spend time taking stock and deciding how they’d like to go forward in life.

No particular ways I’d like to go forward, although I will note that 2019 was an abysmal year for keeping up communications with the people in my life. Not sure why, it wasn’t more busy than usual, but in looking back I realize that I did more responding and less reaching out.  So maybe I’d like to change that.  If this is a resolution, then so be it.

If there are resolutions in my past that I managed to keep, I can’t remember. I assume that most of my former resolutions remained as resolutions and not life changes. This means I don’t have a game plan based on past experience for making a change.  I guess I’ll just have to wing it.

Have you had any spectacular resolution failures? Or success?

20 thoughts on “Going Forward in Life”

  2. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    I think my first resolution failure occurred early on, as in childhood, when I tried a resolution, then immediately forgot, then just thought that this is something that does not work for me. Later, in college, a friend and roommate who was and still is spectacularly self-disciplined, would make a resolution and keep it. That was so intimidating — she is the only person I have known who actually followed through with this particular New Years’ tradition. Everyone else just seemed to pretend to resolve.

    I have discovered that if I want to change something, like exercise or saving money, I can do it if there are good reasons to do so, but this has nothing to do with the New Year.

    The same weather system that dumped on Minneapolis/St. Paul for 3 days, left a skim of snow last week on the Superstition Mountains which I can see from my window right now. The peaks are gleaming white. It will only last a few days here, so I must enjoy the view now. I will resolve to devote the day to doing this! While walking the dogs this morning, a neighbor leaned over the patio wall to tell me they have had difficulty with a herd of javelina (a form of wild pig) intimidating people and attacking dogs. They then miraculously appeared across the street and headed my way.

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    2. I resolve to change the batteries in the smoke detectors TODAY. We have not been here even 24 hours yet, and the detectors started chirping, reminding us that the batteries must be changed. So do they know we walked in the doors?

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  3. The key to keeping resolutions (shhhh, this is my big secret) is to resolve to do things you were going to do anyway. Right now I’m resolving to go to my morning exercise class. In fact, I already did it an hour ago, so I’m off to a great start!

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  5. Last year Husband and I resolved to take an early walk around the block most mornings. This happened exactly once.

    This year I’m resolving to go to a Nia dance/exercise class on Thursday mornings. I don’t have anything else scheduled for that time slot, and it has moved from 8:00 to 9, which is significant for me. I enjoy this instructor and some of the participants… there is a chance this one might happen.

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        2. Yes. I have the memorial card from her service up in my cube. On days when I’m getting frustrated with my job I look at this card and remember that There are so many more important things in the world than what’s in my cube.

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  8. Hi Kids-

    I have never been very good about resolutions. So OT I go.

    Steve made a comment about MN winters.
    We got 4″ of snow Monday and I had a 9:00 meeting Tuesday. So I was out early to blow out the driveway before the meeting. Once at the meeting people asked if I had dug out. I was going to complain about spending an hour doing that (meaning I had to get up an hour early and I’m lazy that way) but it was an hour spent in a tractor with a heated cab and a radio and I had a dog at my feet. Doesn’t really seem like anything worth complaining about does it? And they pointed out I choose to live here. Yes I did. Blame my Great Grandfather though I guess; he’s the one that picked this place.

    This morning I sat at the dining room table for 4+ hours. Worked on random things on the laptop, talked with Kelly, texted with my family and did a lot of prep work for my end of year / beginning of year spreadsheets.
    This afternoon I’ve been working on that.
    Totaled all the mileages and hours from machinery for the year.
    Gathered bank balances and input numbers to the yearly spreadsheet.
    It’s an end of year thing that I’ve always enjoyed; rounds everything out and starting new. And it’s fun to review it against other years and check out the trends.
    Everything looks good by the numbers. 🙂

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    2. That is impressive! I have not ever been good at keeping those kinds of records, but life improved a lot when I hired a bookkeeper to do what I could not do.

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