New Year, New Geography, New Resolve

Ah, a new year. A time to reflect on the previous year and to look forward to what lies ahead. This time, it's 2012. I need to say this because, it was damn near 2010 the last time I posted anything on this blog, so I need to remind my legions handful of readers that we have, in fact, skipped 2011. Seriously. DL blog years are like anti-dog years. They're not uniform, and they're often comparable to 2x one calendar year...or the time it takes a page to load on Internet Explorer. I hereby resolve to reverse that trend in 2012...keeping in mind that resolutions are always a work in progress.

Speaking of New Year's resolutions, I ran across this great article, which was posted by one of the folks I follow on the intense time suck known as Twitter. I pass along to you 20 New Year's Resolutions For 20-Somethings. I'll leave it to you to read, but it basically is supposed to give you a positive outlook and, right off the top, warn you not to post things to social media platforms unless you absolutely have to share them. Well, I absolutely had to share this article. I, along with 17 thousand other people have shared this on my Facebook page already, but I've shared zero commentary about it. Until now.

Some of these are no-brainers. Some of these are borderline revolutionary. Some are easy. Some are difficult. They're all worthwhile. It's a good blend of reminders and suggestions--all written in a witty, conversational tone that speaks directly to the audience. Great read. And it made me think of my own resolutions.

Clearly, one of them is to get back on the horse with this blogging thing. There are days when I come home from staring at a computer screen at work, and the last thing I want to do is to stare at a computer screen at home and write. This is obviously not one of those days. In evaluating why I fell off the blogging horse to begin with, I came to the conclusion that I had spread myself too thin in a lot of ways, and the personal writing is what I sacrificed. It's a matter of prioritizing differently, and my goal is to update more regularly. Stay tuned. (You'll know in a month if you can change the channel.)

Another thing I have been working on but need to continue to push myself to keep working on is reducing my reaction to negativity. Things happen. Sometimes those things suck. Sometimes they suck a LOT. A lot of the time, we can't do a thing about it. Most of the time, though, they go away and we realize that they weren't all that big of a deal in the first place.

That said, how stupid is it to fight it? We drive ourselves crazy trying to control things that we can't control and lose control of the things we can, thereby driving everyone else around us crazy. To some extent, we are all guilty of this. I firmly believe that it's impossible to completely eliminate this because it's partially human nature. But there's always room for improvement. I resolve to help others and myself trend in that direction.

Speaking of room for improvement, I got my first piece of mail since I've lived here! Yay! I've been here two months. I don't know what the eff the US Postal Service has been doing with my mail, other than returning it to people who put the correct name and address on it. It's an annoyance when it's Christmas cards. (Sorry Grandma, Uncle Greg and Aunt Linda, Dave and Erin and Mr. and Mrs. Caton...don't know what to tell you, but Merry Christmas anyway!)

However, when I set up my utilities for this apartment, I wanted to set things up to manage them online. Save paper, not deal with the lag time of snail mail, etc. I was told that to do so, I would need the account number that would be at the top of my first statement. They obviously have my address and my name right. There is power in my apartment, but for how long? At some point, they're going to get pissed that I haven't paid my bill.

So I spent my evening filling out yet another change of address request online before I was assaulted by ads for magazine subscriptions and coupons for that racist home "improvement" wasteland Lowe's. I'm really glad that the postal service can't figure out my address, but they can strike a number of ad deals and use them to piss off the very people they're supposed to serve! America! No wonder they're going broke. So anyway, I did what any reasonable person would do. I filled out their survey and blistered them. I'm pretty sure no one will ever read that (kind of like my blog).  Then I sat down to write this blog and talked about how I'm working toward eliminating negativity. Whoops. I guess this resolution thing really is a work in progress.

End of an Era and a Nod to New Beginnings

While this move has been something of a work in progress for a while, it's gotten very real this weekend. I have a room with a bed and some odds and ends clothes and things, but that is it. Courtesy of some help from my brother Toph, the furniture out of my room has been relocated to the apartment.

Rather that reminisce and make this a morose kind of a post (which it inherently would be when I think about moving out of a house I shared with one of my best friends), I am choosing to focus on the new beginning element of it. Apropos, considering this blog will also cover the expounding on my "Resolutions" post a few days ago.

I resolve to set goals and will not lose focus. While not doing work and spacing out make for hilarious movie fodder, they really have no place in the real world. Not that I feel like a slacker at work, but I can always refocus and get better at what I do. I have a great job that I thoroughly enjoy, and I am resolved to continuing to improve at it.

This point was primarily for work, but it is also applicable to the rest of my life, as I will make a concerted effort to enrich and deepen the relationships I have with my family and friends. Too often we get busy and lose focus on (or outright neglect) this. Not good...lots of room for improvement in '09.

I resolve to eliminate clutter and refuse to settle. Kind of a follow-on from working to enrich solid relationships, there is the other side of the coin in which some people and activities are really nothing more than clutter. They are a void and a time/productivity black hole. The resolution here is that when I feel as though I am about to waste time with one such peripheral person or activity, that I catch myself and reroute.

There are far too many important people in my life to waste my time on anyone other than them. I've finally come to the realization that there are only so many hours in the day, and while productivity and doing 100 things can be admirable (and is certainly necessary from time to time), part of being efficient is more effectively balancing things.

I resolve to return to basics and refuse to cede control. Those of you who read this clearly know me and are probably laughing that a control freak such as myself is refusing to cede control. No, I do not resolve to become a domineering person all of a sudden. Rather, I am working to be more proactive in things I do.

Part of this is the fact that I've read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Proactive simply means to not leave things to chance. Think about the end result and the side effects of what you say/do before you say/do them. This takes foresight and practice. What better time to start on it than 2009?

This series of resolutions has a little to do with work and a lot to do with life. I am feeling as though I've let my focus slide a little, and I want 2009 to be the year I snap it back into focus. Moving out of the house on Cohasset was a brutally difficult decision, but in the end, I am confident that it is the right one.

It is the end of an era, but with the end comes a new beginning. For me, it's a time to realize that I've let myself stagnate, but there has never been a better time for me to shake out of it and refocus.

Resolutions

While an overrated holiday and really just an excuse to throw a party, the beginning of new calendar year is an annual time for reflection and goal setting.

"The world is built for people who are not cursed with self-awareness."

So said Annie Savoy in the best movie ever. Seems like an appropriate launch into my new year's resolutions. I have always thought of myself as a self-aware person, and as a sweeping generalization, what I don't know, I admit I don't know and work to find out. I know when to speak out and when to shut up and cut my losses. (I sometimes ignore this knowledge out of stubbornness, but that is a different issue.)

But being resolute in 2009 has less to do with what I do/don't know and more to do with what I will/will not do.

- I resolve to set goals.

- I refuse to lose focus.

- I resolve to eliminate clutter.

- I refuse to settle.

- I resolve to return to basics.

- I refuse to cede control.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll elaborate on these points, but right now it's back to the grind of trying to clean up/organize for the big move.

Yes, 2009 will look drastically different from 2008, but considering the way a number of things went last year, change is good.

If self-awareness is a "curse" and ignorance is bliss, I would rather be "cursed" than blissful. Here's hoping 2009 keeps these from being mutually exclusive. Happy new year, y'all.

ADDENDUM: Congrats to Matt and Stef on the wedding! You guys are rockstars, and we're all pumped for you...take lots of pics in Spain and give us access to the wedding photos soon!