New Beginnings

I've never been big on New Years resolutions, probably because I tend to make them at the beginning of every week.  This is more than likely the reason I got into TFA, with my "big goals" and psychotic habit of making lists for everything I do.  I plan out workouts and meals, I prioritize my to-do lists, I block out my time.  Naturally, I'm exhausted by the time my winter vacation comes along, and New Years is more important as a day of rest and recovery than as a day of creating new beginnings.

There is one resolution I make, one I make any time I set any goals or make any lists- floss more.  I don't think there is any person on the planet that flosses enough.  Ever.  Even if you floss religiously, twice a day, I'm sure at yearly cleaning dentists still tell you, "You should probably floss more."  And I hate flossing.  It's always on my list because I hate it so much.  Even my Teach for America BIG GOAL for my classroom had it in the fine print (Grow a year and a half in reading, master 80% of math objectives, floss every morning).  I don't count it because I very rarely can stick to it for more than a week.

This year, though, thanks to the long car ride back from my Nana's Florida condo, I've had a lot of time to think about the kind of things I'd like to change in 2010.  My change of heart has a lot to do with the big changes I've gone through this year and the new structure that life falls into after college.  I've never had to make priorities or goals because they've always been made for me.  I had schoolwork.  I had volleyball workouts.  When I wasn't doing those things, I was having fun.  Who needs resolutions when things are laid out already?  Now it's different.  Not only is there nothing forcing me to work out, but I have to pay for and plan for it entirely on my own.  My comfortable ebb and flow of semesters, of midterms and finals, is gone.  I'm left with the endless to-do list from work, something more difficult to prioritize because it is impossible to ever finish.

So I'm thinking maybe resolutions are the way to go.  But which ones?  Too often we make the mistake of choosing the broad and vague categories of "eating better," "not wasting time," "being a better person."  As a well-trained and well-disciplined TFA-er, I know that vague goals are about as useful as no goals at all.  I've decided to look at things in a different way, a way of balancing things out.  Every day, we make choices.  We choose to watch HGTV instead of going to the gym.  We choose to silence our friends calling because of our tired bodies and minds.  We buy cinnamon rolls on an impulse, and eat them all on another five impulses.  What if, instead of letting these things happen idly, without thought, I became proactive in making the better decision?  Be a little better every day, whether it's as big as working out for an hour or as small as making my bed.  Something better, every day.  MORE of the good stuff, LESS of the bad and lazy.  Below is my list of these more and less categories, things that require a little less commitment than those resolutions I first mentioned.

• MORE blogging and writing, LESS Facebook creeping
• MORE vegetables, LESS Poptarts (if you saw how well-stocked my school's vending machine is, you would have the same problem)
• MORE yoga, LESS couch time
• MORE phone calls, LESS feeling sorry for myself
• MORE love, LESS judgment
• MORE gratefulness, LESS complaining

And, of course, floss.