Clutter Busting: Resolutions No More!

Two years ago my sister and I wrote down our resolutions and sealed them in an envelope. We decided to open them at the end of 2006 and bask in the glory of resolutions achieved. That 2006 celebration never did take place. The problem is, I wrote down the same resolutions as I have every year…without truly examining why I always failed to achieve most resolutions in the past. The larger problem is not the topic of each resolution, but what success in each resolution actually meant. A common resolution for me was exercise more. “Exercise more” is not a clear enough definition to truly be a goal for me. And then other years when I broke the goal into “exercise 5 times a week” I would find myself doing well at first and then some event would take place, I would get off track and would realize that success in “exercising 5 times a week” was already not an option anymore…and quit.

My senior year in high school, my group of friends and I got together and created a must-do list for ourselves. Some were little things, like drink a “Yoo-Hoo”, and others were a little trickier for some: getting kissed on the high jump mat on the track field. We vowed at the beginning of the year that all 20+ tasks would be achieved by graduation. It made the year so fulfilling by checking off task after task. No, I never did get kissed on the high jump mat on the track field, but I look back nearly twenty years ago and can clearly remember so many of these other little achievements. It made the year so memorable.

Last year I decided to take my senior checklist to the next level. Create a list of the little things that I could do throughout the year that would make 2007 memorable. The items on my list did not require a lot of time or money; most required very little of each.

Here is a small sampling of my personal list:

1. Go on a mini vacation with just my husband (even if it is at a local hotel)
2. Bake cookies for the neighbors for no reason at all
3. Send a letter to a long lost friend

I realize now that placing on my New Year’s Resolution list “Exercise 5 times a week every week” is equivalent to me as “Pet a Unicorn.” It is nice to think about, but it’s not going to happen. I have become realistic to what I will and what I won’t do. This year try and find simplicity in your life. Look for the little things to bring you fulfillment. If exercise is your end goal, add run a mini marathon to your checklist. It’s not about being the ultimate best you can be this year, it is about living a better and more fulfilled life in 2008 than you did in 2007.

Have fun creating your checklists!

Betsy