Meow Resolutions!

All your favorite New Year's Resolutions, demonstrated by some furry felines.

Expectations

It may seem like I have extraordinarily high expectations for this year. Impossibly high ones, Olympic-level high jump status. But here's the thing:

14 is my favorite number, or one of. Thus, I am pretty anxiously awaiting 2014, 'cause I imagine it'll be the best shit ever. And so, despite all my hopes and plans and optimistic dreams, I'm not putting too much weight on 2013. Which is good. 'Cause day one was a bust.

My brain can logic itself into any corner, out of any jam, and it logic-ed itself into one last binge. So, I've started off the year with the lowest possible barometer of success.

It can only go up from here. I'll try my best in 2013, but next year...it is on.

New Year, New You

Alright, bitches. It is here. 

Hello, 2013!

I've told you my resolutions.

I've laid out the changes I'm going to make.

I'm ready.

Let's get to it.

Happy New Year!

The Overhaul

I have plans.

Plans to overhaul my life and stop being such a lazy piece of crap. (So much for that "being kind to myself" resolution...oh, but it's not 2013 yet, so carry on.) Plans to expand my horizons and enrich my mind. Plans to  become an entirely different, smarter, healthier, more organized and better groomed person.

It'll be super easy. Mmhmm.

So what am I going to change?

Let us muse.

*Food: I've said it before and I'll say it again: I need to cook more. Like, really. I need to acquire some domestic skills otherwise no man is ever going to marry me and make me a stay at home trophy wife. And then where will I be? This particular endeavor goes hand in hand with my desire to spend less money, 'cause a) eating at home is much cheaper than binging on takeout multiple times per day and b) I will meal plan and thus not end up throwing out expired foods. Basically, I need to come up with a way to feed myself that doesn't involve a core diet of Lean Cuisines, otherwise I'm gonna get scurvy.

*Exercise: Everything I want to say about this I've said before...so of course, a nagging little voice in my head (that sounds remarkably like Fran Drescher) is all, "what's different this time?" Shut up, Nanny. IT IS DIFFERENT. I will return to yoga, I will go outside and walk or run or waddle, I will do something on the weekends besides lay in bed all day with my cat. I will actually move my body at least four days a week. I'm contemplating starting a morning routine wherein I wake up at the same time every day and start off my day with weights/crunches/etc...we shall see if that happens. I do know that what I need is structure and consistency.

*Lifestyle: Here's the thing. I am an expert waster of time. It's miraculous, really, how I'm able to return home from work around 6PM daily and do absolutely nothing of substance until I climb into bed a few hours later. And I wonder why my place is always a mess and I feel like my brain is slowly melting. I need to return to my habit of leaving my laptop at work most nights, and institute a "no technology after 10" rule. (No, my Kindle does not count as technology.) I need to actually read and craft and do shit and not just spent infinite hours on the Internet.

So, yes, these are my plans. Nothing surprising, nothing innovative, but what can you do? I'm a simple creature, with simple goals, and at their root they are all this:

I want to make the most of my life.

And so I shall.

Resolutionista

Am I the only person in the world who still makes New Year's resolutions?

Most people have given up on them at this point, I think. Considering our collective universal track record with success is pretty dismal, it seems like the very definition of insanity to keep making the same promises to ourselves again and again and again. Hell, if NY resolutions really worked, we'd all be skinny, rich, well-read bitches who don't gossip or swear or drink to excess.

Boooooring.

So, yeah. I still love me some New Year's resolutions. The shiny promise of a whole new year makes me feel like the world is one big possibility, an empty canvas for me to throw paint at like a drunken third grader.  And, yes, my goals and hopes each year always seem remarkably similar to the year before, but no matter. I soldier on.

I took a look at my journal from this time last year, and couldn't help but laugh at what I read. I could easily write these same words, now, substituting 2013 for 2012, and not even see the difference:

"I want to be me, and love that person, and enjoy the life I'm living.            

            In 2012, I will change my life: get a new job, explore my passions
            and start a savings account.

            In 2012, I will change my body: start a yoga practice, run a 5k, and lose 40 pounds.

            In 2012, I will change my view: take more pictures, read 50 books and write every
            day."

So, a recap: 

*Don't have me a new job. Meh to that.

*I don't even know what passions I have, so...no. Unless watching TV is a passion.

*I do have a savings account, but it is pretty pathetic.

*I did have a yoga practice, for a bit...did not run a 5k.

*Did lose 40 lbs...then gained a few back. 

*Did take more pictures, did not read 50 books, and wrote almost every day.

Overall, I'm gonna call that "not too shabby". I am truly much happier with where I am now than where I was just a year ago, but I definitely still have a long way to go to become the person I want to be. 

And thus...more resolutions.

Taylor's 13 Resolutions for 2013

1) Commit every day to making healthy choices and living a happy life.

2) Make more of an effort to reconnect with old friends and find new ones.

3) Continue updating my blog regularly, expand my readership and come up with awesome new ideas for posts.

4) Get a new fucking job.

5) Keep a budget every month and commit to saving money and limiting frivolous spending. 

6) Be a more physical person and enjoy using my body and being strong. 

7) Once a month, explore somewhere new in LA---and blog about it.

8) Put effort into my appearance, not because of vanity, but because it makes me feel more confident.

9) Take the time to read, and knit, and write, and try to limit my screen-watching. 

10) And when I say write, I mean actually write fiction.
11) Okay, yeah: lose some weight. 

12) Find a way to volunteer my time.

13) Be kinder to myself. 

New Year's Prep

I do believe I've mentioned before my fondness for symbolic holidays.

Like New Year's Eve.

In my opinion, when the clock strikes glorious midnight on that day, 2012 is completely wiped away and all the bullshit of the last few months can go fuck itself. I will find the glorious  motivation and drive that hit me last year around this same time. I will continue on this transformative journey, in which there is no end point, and I will ignore any self-flagellating thoughts about how I kind of thought I'd be "done" with weight loss by  now and I should be in some perfect state of bliss.

Silly girl.

In preparation of a fresh new start, wherein everything is perfect and amazing and I fix all my issues like BAM (sure), I spent today cleaning and tidying and organizing. My place isn't perfect, but it's in a pretty good state for when I return in 2013.

'Cause I have plans, y'all. Get ready for the details in the next few days. My deep love and affection for lists and schedules will be reading its ugly head. I am getting oh so ready.

2013, it is on.