Photo Courtesy of Sarbjit Singh/flickr.com
Our New Year’s resolutions from last year…what were they, again?
Ah, yes. Be nicer to people. Show respect. We’d like to think we’ve done this, but then again, some things came up this year that occasionally did make us feel like being mean. Let’s face it. Bad things happen, and people are just plain annoying on top of that. We at The Forum dealt with critics on Facebook several times, and things happened around the world and in our community that made us angry. Hate crimes, acts of terrorism, loved ones dying. Reporters shot on air in Virginia. Bombs going off in Paris. It made us angry, and so we didn’t always adhere to the “kindness” goals we set forth a year ago this week.
We were also supposed to let go of the little things. Oops.
Get some sleep. Take care of ourselves. Eat better. Don’t smoke. Drink less. Okay, well, sort of. Something always comes up to hinder sleep, doesn’t it? Stress and small children both seem to affect our ability to catch a few winks. Insomnia takes over after repeated nightly interruptions or sleep delays. Problems seem to become compounded the more you try to address them. Have you ever been stressed over being stressed or lost sleep over losing sleep? It’s not pretty.
Spend time with loved ones when we can. Hey, isn’t that what the holidays are for? Perfect timing. We can nip that one in the bud during this festive couple of weeks. And then the rest of the year, we can go back to being jerks and forgetting to respond to friend requests or even emails.
Challenge ourselves to try something new. Look, it’s a challenge to even get up in the morning. We thought we were going to challenge ourselves, or ask you to challenge yourselves, beyond getting out of bed? Sorry. That seems rather silly now.
Lower our expectations. Well, that’s one checked box. They’re at an all-time low these days. We think we met it less cynically in our resolution, but maybe not.
If we need something, don’t be afraid to ask. Ok, but…didn’t we just say that we’d successfully lowered our expectations of other people? Doesn’t that mean that if we do find a shred of courage to ask for something – 20 dollars, a lift somewhere, or just a little support – that these people are inevitably going to let us down? Probably better to stay stoic or rely on a medical professional for that listening ear we so desperately need.
Get control of our debt. Give to charity if we have extra. Ok, maybe we didn’t need to buy QUITE as many Shopkins or Calico Critters this Christmas. Maybe now we can set a good example for the recipients of those gifts and select some older toys to give to those less fortunate? We can barely walk into our children’s rooms; the floors are covered with toys and beginning to mount to the ceilings. There once was a rule that the toys had to be confined here; now they are overflowing to the living room and the master bedroom. This is just another form of gluttony – we can no longer kid ourselves that we were merely being generous when we rushed to three Toys R Us stores to find the newest releases.
Which brings us to the resolution we ended on last year: kiss, hug, and give attention to our children just a little more, and appreciate the new light that they may help us see things in. Success! This is one resolution we believe in most fervently and can proudly and honestly say that we’ve adhered to it. One out of 10 or so resolutions – that’s not so bad.
Happy New Year to all of those who have supported us in one way or the other over the last 12 months. May you, too, be blessed with extra hugs — and the capacity to stick to your resolutions – in 2016.
