New Year's 2012

“It wouldn’t be New Year’s if I didn’t have regrets” – William Thomas

Hmmm…  Another year has come and gone.  It is my prayer that this next year will bring more happiness, stability and kindness to each of our lives.  Everyone could do with a little more of each of those items in their lives.

And that brings me to the age old tradition of New Year's resolutions.  One would think that goal setting could be done at any time in one’s life instead of only once a year.  I guess the practice somewhat mimics the changing of the year on the calendar…  Out with the old (2011) and in with the new (2012).  So it is now my turn to take a shot at making some changes.  Here they are (in no particular order…):

1 – Be more positive.  My goal is to look for the positive in whatever may come my way.  I know that’s easier said than done and that there is really no way to quantify my progress; but that is something I want to do.  It has become too easy in this life to focus on the negative and to forget about the Lord’s hand in all that happens.  Reflecting on my life, I don’t think there is even one challenge where something hasn’t happen to reinforce that the Lord is there and is helping me through things.  I should really be more grateful when blessed and look for more opportunities to pass those positives on.

2 – Lose weight.  My goal is to lose one pound a week for the next year.  That is really an achievable goal if I put just a little effort into making it happen.  And while I’m on the subject of losing weight – if there are any HTML programmers out there that could help me put together a little bit of code for a small weight tracking widget I would greatly appreciate it.  Leave me a comment and I’ll try to intelligently explain the four data points I’m looking for.

3 – Eat no more than three meals a week in the cafeteria at work.  This goal really goes hand in hand with goal number two.  When I used to pack my own lunch each day I was losing weight and becoming a better healthier me.  Currently I eat between seven and ten meals at work each week (breakfast and lunch).  If I can cut that back to no more than three I will definitely be losing weight and padding my savings account with the extra money.  Wow!  Two positive changes with very minimal effort on my part.

You know, I could try to set and do a few more resolutions but I figure that I should probably start out small.  With that being said, I leave you with an old saying that goes something like this, “a goal not written down is just a dream.”  I’ve just moved my dreams into the goal category.  Awesome.