Welcome 2012 - I'm glad you're here!

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. 

At least I haven't in the last 30 or so years. I think they're silly and just another way to measure my failures. See, I start off with a bad attitude, so there's no way I can succeed anyway right?

This year, I'm going to start making them again. I don't like the way I live my life. 

Don't misread that; I love my life. I don't like how I live it.

I waste time.

I procrastinate.

I whine.

I complain.

I wish things were different, but don't take the steps to change.

This is all my fault - really it is - I live my life the nice, easy, lazy way. I don’t take on obligations that are outside of my comfort zone (read: that take effort on my part).

I don't make waves, I go with the flow, I drift along. 

And all the time I think, "I wish I would have _________." Fill in the blank with a million things.

-written my book

-not eaten that XXXXX

-changed my oil when I had time

-gone to the grocery rather than taking a nap

-washed dishes

-exercised when I got up an hour early

-gotten up an hour early

The list could go on for days, but the bottom line for every item I list is that I should just get up and do things.

Setting realistic goals is no problem for me. I set them all of the time, but the part I shy away from is accountability.

If I set a goal to lose 2 pounds a week, and don't tell anyone, who cares? I can eat, and be lazy, and never exercise, and no one's the wiser.

I don't like to tell people my goals for exactly that reason. I don’t want people to know that I've failed. Or worse yet, to call me out for not sticking to my plan.

Well, no more. 

I'm going to publish my "resolutions" for 2012.

Feel free to call me out and make me stick to the plan. Hold me accountable for the  stuff I mess up on, but remember, I'm human - and a big baby, so I'm likely to pout about it, but I'll get over it because I know you're just trying to help.

1. I'm going to drop 2 pounds a week - for a total of 105 pounds this year
1. Side note, if I drop 105 pounds from where I am right now, I'll be able to slide under a door, so this is an average, taking into account that I'll most likely gain a few here and there.  My real number is 75 pounds from where I am right now.
2. I'm going to eat well - cutting out a lot of fast food, most fried crap, a lot of starches, and a lot of pop. (Notice please that I have not committed to cutting out ALL of anything, that's not realistic.) I also need to cut out as much candy as I can without going completely insane. I refuse to picture a world where I cannot have a handful of gummy worms occasionally.
3. I'm going to exercise -yep, it's down on virtual paper now, I'm committed. Exercise! I have everything I need to actually exercise. I just need to get off the couch. I have a gym membership, I have weights, a treadmill, a gazelle, resistance bands, an 8 pound medicine ball, a bicycle, push up handles, a chin up bar, shoes, a wheel of death, a weight bench, 874 work out DVDs, Netflix, a Wii Fit with both Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus.

2. I'm going to finish writing both of my books
1. Book one is currently titled Mac and Murder and I wrote 1/2 of it for a contest. I've gotten 2/3rds or more completed. If I win the contest it will need to be totally complete so that it can be published. If I don't win, I am thinking of self-publishing.
2. Book two has no working title, but is actually the first book in my series about Mac Cartwright  - Mac works in a used bookstore somewhere in Ohio, when she finds her boss in a bloody heap in the back room she finds herself next on the murder's hit list. Mac and her friend Edie have to dodge the bad guy before he kills them both.

3. I'm going to enter the 3 Day Novel Contest in September (again) but this time I will finish a complete novel
4. I'm going to create and stick to a budget
5. I'm going to set aside 20 to 30 minutes of quiet/God time each day
6. Perhaps the hardest item on the list: I'm going to ask for help when I need it, not just with this stuff, but everywhere in my life.

Would you like to join me? Life is not about being alone, we were created for relationships. We are hardwired to work together to get it done. One of my favorite services from church was a series called Boulders and Backpacks. The sweetened condensed version is that we all have issues, trials and troubles in our lives, some are backpacks, they are personal and need to be carried by the owner - you carry your own and you don't carry other people's. In this way, we learn and grow from our own personal things. By not carrying other people's backpacks, you let them learn and grow and you don't get overwhelmed with trouble that isn't yours.

On the other hand, we also have boulders. These are situations that are specifically meant to be shared, we are supposed to help each other carry a part of the boulder so that we're not crushed by trying to carry it alone. By sharing our boulders, we strengthen our relationships with other people and grow.

Individual resolutions are backpacks, ultimately, we each have to shoulder the burden of getting them accomplished, or living with the consequences of not getting them done.

But the whole process is a boulder -we need to help each other with the boulders of accountability, the celebrations of success and the helpful nudging  that gets us back on track when we slip.