Just Another Opportunity

Here it is, the end of one year and the beginning of another, and a good time to make plans for what I want to accomplish in the next twelve months. It’s time to change what date I write on my checks and other correspondence. It’s a good time to…

You know what? Tomorrow’s just another day, like yesterday, and the day before. Just like the day after tomorrow will be yet another day. It’s up to me to decide how I’ll spend that time. On Christmas day, I hung out with my family. We played, laughed together, went visiting, ate dinner, and just spent time. Best day possible. Granted, I realize every day can’t be like that. But if I make some effort, I know I can find one day a week, or one hour even, to dedicate to the important people in my life, and to do the things most important to me. Every day is a new opportunity to do things right.

Every year in January attendance at the gym (where I work out) doubles and stays that way until mid-February or the beginning of March before the crowds thin again, because those people who resolved to get in shape have lost their motivation. And every year, I let those people who stop coming to the gym become an example to me. I will not quit, I will persevere. I will press on even if my goals are hard to reach. My gym membership will be well used, and so will my time.

January is just another month whose number on the calendar happens to be one. It’s a beginning, yes. Definitely. But it is not an end (unless you’ve decided to let it be an end to bad habits—that’s a good thing).

What great things have you accomplished in the past year? Have you established a habit that is beneficial to you? I want to know about it.

Oh yes. And by the way, happy New Year!

That Will Do

Tis the season to make resolutions, and I—like probably ninety percent of the people in the world—find myself thinking on what I’d like to do, or accomplish in the following year.

The thing is, I’m not one of those people who writes down my goals. Really, I’m more of a decide-what-you-want-to-accomplish-then-keep-it-firmly-in-mind kind of girl. The method works for me, you know? At least, with the big stuff. Write a book, check. Edit a book (like, 25 times) check. Travel, check, check. That kind of thing.

But every year, as the beginning of another one approaches, I find myself wondering if I should consider making an actual list. Detailed. One that includes smaller things like organizing my house and my time, phone calls I should make more often, the little things that seem less important in the long run, but that would most likely make my life easier, thus, enabling more of my personal happiness.

Except I never actually do that. Maybe I will this year. Or not. Either way, all the above things are in my plans, along with sending out a minimum of 150 queries (or alternately finding an agent—whichever comes first), finishing the edit of my NaNo project along with two other manuscripts, and also finishing two more rough drafts.Read the equivalent of a book a week.

And spend oodles of time with my family. Cheer for my kids at basketball, soccer, art and music. Hang out with my honey.

Can I do all that in one year? Yeah. If I’m determined enough, I really can.

Hey, look at that? A blog post that evolved into a sort of list of resolutions. Whaddayaknow. That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.

What do you resolve to do in 2011?