I'm all about making goals that are attainable. No, I don't mean easy goals. I'm talking about goals that can be planned for and executed with the utmost perfection, which of course I am. Ha, I kid. But real talk, I wanted to set a resolution that would sharpen me as a person and better me as an addition to society.
My 2012 New Year's resolution was to read directions, carefully. Keyword: carefully.
Pre-2012 me: *LOOKS AT IKEA FURNITURE* YEAH I GOT THIS without ever touching the diagrammed Ikea directions included (which, let's be honest, don't really make sense to begin with). The results weren't ever good and I always had to ask somebody to do help me with it. It also usually resulted with me in fetal position, sobbing in a corner wondering why, as an adult, I couldn't do anything right.
Post-resolution me: DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. LET ME READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST AND THEN WE CAN PROCEED. This usually results in properly put-together furniture and a good understanding of maps which caused me to never get lost. There was also sometimes free food involved.
While many have failed their resolutions of losing weight, staying sober, staying abstinent, staying single, or whatever else they resoluted, I have prospered. Kind of. It was difficult to curb my anticipations just so I could read a crummy piece of paper to see how something should be done correctly. Sometimes, the instructions made me feel awesome because I learned something new. Other times, the instructions were BULL CRAP that didn't make any sense.
With the exception of an incidence that occurred while preparing Christmas Eve dinner, this was a New Year's resolution I saw all the way through. Though it took me longer to put furniture together and follow recipes, I'm content that I can thoroughly follow directions well now. (Something I should have learned in grade school.)
And it might not matter to any of you, but it matters to me because I'm the worst at following directions.
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2012, you were both cruel and kind to me but what I've learned this year is that I'm the maker of every reaction to the moments I experience. I'm in control of my life and it's time to take back what I've carelessly given away and make something newer and better of it.
2013, whatever you have in store, just know that you're just another year with days for me to conquer.
Happy New Year, friends!
Labels: end of the year, resolutions, victorious