You Say You Want a Resolution

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Well, you know, we all want to change the world…

(Apologies to Lennon and McCartney)

As the year ends and another begins, it behoves me to check in with my resolutions for the year and see what progress was made.

Hang on.

Just gotta go back and look up what they were…

Oh, that’s right.

1. Decline to take photos of other people when asked

Result: Failed

It’s hard to say no when someone asks you take a photo of them standing in the snow with the Himalayas behind them. (Apology: I never posted about this trip. Life got busy and complicated and I never quite got around to it. It’s still in the pipeline so keep an eye out in the coming weeks.)

P3020359

Obviously the photo I took is on their camera but here’s where we were at the time

2. Answer a question with another question to avoid talking about myself

Result: Failed

I do not possess this skill. Guess I’ll never be a politician. Sometimes failure has benefits.

3. Write all emails and messages in 25 words or less

Result: Mixed

I started out well on this resolution and was becoming quite adept at not only limiting my words to 25 words or less but managing to hit 25 words exactly on many occasions. It became something of a challenge. But some people were unhappy with my restricted words and once you make one exception, it’s hard to remember the rule as you go on. I still think it’s a worthy goal and may re-institute it for 2020.

4. Limit my consumption of American late night talk show monologues to once a week

Result: Passed

I pretty much stopped watching them altogether. Too depressing.

5. Go to the gym more regularly but not talk about it on social media

Result: Gold Star

Okay, so the actual gym attendance side gets a ‘Mixed’ result because I did drop off in the middle of the year but as I’d been diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in May, all my exercise goals kind of took a nosedive. I did make up for it later in the year, going every day, but as it was part of getting caught in a dieting trap, that’s possibly not good either. However, I get a gold star for the social media thing. I did not post about it at all. How good is that? Okay, so it’s because I quit social media but it still counts. I ditched Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in April and have never regretted it. I wish I could say it means I spend less time on my phone but I’ve just switched to reading the news and doing brain puzzles (currently addicted to Picture Cross puzzles). I may be wasting time but at least my brain is getting a workout.

Picture Cross

Picture Cross puzzle – Maths and Art in one puzzle!

So it would appear that my New Year Resolutions took the way of most resolutions and landed in the ‘seemed like a good idea at the time but who can be bothered’ basket.

I’m not making any resolutions for 2020. The year ahead already has enough challenges in it and I’ll be too busy navigating those to set myself up with additional goals.

A very Happy New Year to you and I wish you the bestest of all things in the year ahead.*

Have you made any resolutions for 2020 or are you just going to wing it?

 

* I will not be wishing you luck for the next decade. My congratulations on completing another decade will be made at the end of 2020. Honestly, when did people stop being able to count to 10??

And in case, like me, my post title put a certain earworm in your head, here’s the full song. It’s gonna be all right.

55 thoughts on “You Say You Want a Resolution”

  2. Oooohhh, you should tell more people it’s not the end of the decade. I just went with it too! Whoops.
    I am very excited to have such a part in the failed resolutions. 🙂 (33 words)

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  3. First off, congrats on the resolutions achieved, whether partially or fully. I’m still admiring your ability to run marathon races and collect bling.

    Second…no, I do not need a resolution. I’m winging it this year. I do have the goal of retiring late in 2020, but the rest is up in the air. You can come visit me in about 13 hours and check out my short non-resolution post.

    Hope all is well with you, Heather, and I’m looking forward to reading about your Himalayan adventure plus a few more in the coming year.

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  5. Ah, your birthday buddy has set a few people straight on the end of the decade debacle as well….
    2019 certainly has been a mixed year, I hope 2020 might be more kind. And no there is never anyway I can communitcate in 25 words or less, excepting a terse text to previously mentioned birthday buddy (aka my husband)…..or maybe my teenage daughter……
    Salut my dear friend, we will ride this year, whatever may come, knowing that somegreatest gifts we have are the friends who choose us….

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    • But of course. Libran scientists must always make the world right.
      I fervently wish for you a kinder and gentler year in 2020 but if the seas get rough you know there’s a safe harbour over here in which to shelter for a while. ❤

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  6. I made a resolution in my early fifties to give up smoking and as an incentive promised myself I would start smoking again when turning 75. I stopped smoking but when I turned seventy five I had lost the will and courage to take it up. I am nothing but a failure when it comes to resolutions.

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  7. Congrats on the success and the fact that you actually wrote resolutions down. I hadn’t realized that you ditched social media completely. Brain puzzles sound far more productive.
    All the best in 2020 Heather. Thank goodness I have not yet wished anyone a good decade. Hugs from afar and hoping those fires are far from you. By what I can tell the answer is yes.

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    • I should, in the interest of complete honesty, clarify that I do still have a page on Facebook for the blog but I administrate it with a made up profile that is used solely for that purpose.

      Yes, so far we have been lucky in our part of the state but it’s horrible to watch what’s going on around the country. And it’s only just January. A long, difficult summer ahead for our firies I think.

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  8. I want to hear about the Himalayas! Hope you have a great new year and perhaps a bigger percentage of passed resolutions in 2020 😉 (I didn’t fail a single resolution in 2019, mostly because I didn’t make any)

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  9. I haven’t made resolutions for such a long time. I guess I know myself well enough to save the time and energy.

    A question though: why would you want to decline when someone asks you to take a photo of them?

    Looking forward to reading about the Himalayan trip!

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      • Ah; understood.
        At least with digital photography, that’s an option. My mother is one of those lovely helpful-looking women people ask to take their photos, and I’ve often wondered how assorted families and honeymooners felt collecting their newly developed photos from the chemist only to discover blurred torsos and odd strangers lurking behind their left ear.

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  11. You certainly need to apologise for that dreadful heading, H ! 😀
    But honestly, NY resolutions ? – as JL sings, count me out.
    Btw: this is one of their songs wherein the harmony sucks from time to time. I have spoken.

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  13. I am a wing it gal, particularly when it comes to making New Years resolutions. I know exactly what parts of myself I need to work on, whether the calendar flips to a New Year or not.

    Having said that, I do think it is a good time to reflect a wee bit & determine what parts of ourselves we may want to take better care of and perhaps what we should do to make that happen.

    Hoping you are safe & sound. We are all watching with such sadness the devastation that is occurring in your beautiful country. 💕

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  14. I’m still laughing at Gerald’s comment.
    Okay, so stuff happens and I sometimes don’t blog about it, but you went to the Himalayas and just dropped that in casually like you bought new shoes or something mundane?!? Good mercy, please share the Himalayas with us, because that didn’t happen to me last year, okay?
    I never make resolutions, thinking that I don’t need to wait to start or stop on ceremony, we really can make a decision any time.
    I liked your email resolution tho. You know what resolutions people should make? Don’t leave a two-and-a-half minute outgoing voicemail message. Oh snap! I’m inspired.
    Happy New Year! 😀

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    • He’s wickedly funny. 😀
      Yeah, Himalayas… But three weeks after I got back I had to walk 100km and then I had to train for a marathon and then I got a blood clot and then… I… just… forgot? 🤔
      I think New Year resolutions are a bit like Mothers’ Day or Valentine’s Day. Really it’s stuff we should be doing all year but sometimes we need reminding.
      Happy New Year, Joey!

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  17. Think before I speak and be KINDER! (and get stuck in with the Portuguese… no more excuses 😦 ) Sad for your country, Heather, as I am often sad for my ‘old’ one, too, but take care of your health and do what makes you happy in 2020 🙂 🙂

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  18. Happy New Year! If I did a list of resolutions, I would do it the same way my husband makes a ‘to do’ list. When he does something, he puts it on a list then immediately crosses it off.

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  19. Happy 2020, Heather – I enjoyed the post and the comments –

    Intrigued by your email policy – I’ve just learned that it’s OK to wait 24 hours before responding. Sometimes longer! But I still feel the impulse to hit the reply button the moment it lands in my inbox. I don’t have too much trouble with short and sweet, but I do have difficulty letting typos slip by.

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    • I hear you, both on the typos and the responding. I am a responder. Recently, I instituted the ‘Out of Office Reply’ feature on my email to say I was on holidays and only checking my messages irregularly just to force myself to wait before replying. 🙄 (It’s not a lie – it is school holidays time. I didn’t say I was away on holidays. :P)

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Talk to me. I love a discussion. I might learn new stuff.

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