Life Defies Resolution

Another month done. Another year done. We all know what the end of the year brings, don't we? Resolutions. The bold goals never to be met, the promises never to be kept. I once made (and failed to keep) New Year resolutions. But it eventually dawned on me that New Year is nothing more than an arbitrary point on one of the many calendrical systems invented to pass the time. Why wait to this day to make a resolution, set a goal? And why make it so large? Success is more likely if smaller goals are set as and when enough will-power (or self-loathing) is conjured up to make it happen.

The goals I set for myself on a month to month basis are not resolutions. They are not designed to be life changing. If one happens to fall into that category, awesome, if not, no sleep will be lost. These are designed to amuse myself, others, and provide an incentive to step out of the comfort zone that we all so quickly settle into.

It has occurred to me - mostly through a profound lack of inspiration for January goals and poor performance through December - that I may be setting too many goals. The number of goals should be allowed to ebb and flow alongside my own life. As such, I have decided to make goals according to my inspiration come the end of the month. Some months may be without goals, some peppered with trifling goals.

Having vented those thoughts (this is stream of consciousness writing folks, don't expect much. If you want some more eloquent writing, check out http://lesliemabon.wordpress.com/) I will now cover my results from last month:

Mental: Learn to meditate

Result: Not there yet. In the interests of blogger integrity I must admit that I did not focus enough on this one. Seems almost ironic. I plan to do a bit more this month, perhaps allotting a time slot in my mornings for consistent, effective meditation. Fell asleep during some of the late night meditations in December. Effective was of achieving the difficult task of emptying the head of thoughts! I'm not there yet on the technique and so not yet reaping the benefits that some claim meditation brings - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16406814. Seems that I timed that goal well!

Physical: (1) Maintain the same weight throughout the month (as judged by my good friend, Wii Fit)

(2) 100 press-ups a day, every day.

Result: (1) Achieved, amazingly! Not for want of the usual Christmas bingeing...

(2) Also achieved, at the cost of a sore left moob (man-boob for those who don't speaka da lingo) and more than a few funny looks from friends. Some nights this goal was left a bit late (memorably pushing out 80 press-ups in the final half hour of the day) and the whole affair has left me heartily sick of dropping down to repeatedly touch my nose to the floor. Not as sick as Paddy Doyle must be though - his record of 1,500,230 press-ups in a year is sickening.

Spiritual: Do some volunteering. 'Tis the season to be giving, after all!

Result: I'm counting this as a failure. Not enough effort expended! I've put my name down for 4 different volunteering schemes. Two will have to wait for the spring. The other two have not been in touch following my form filling. Guess I'm not their type! I'm planning to see these through, will no doubt mention it on the blog here if they ever come to pass.

So what's on the cards for January?

Mental: 'Upcycle' (hate that term!) the two old shirts in my room. What will them become? Stay tuned!

Physical: 100 squats a day. Goal is a bit of a cop-out, just repeating the press-up thing, but the legs are looking pretty weedy...

Spiritual (1): Continue to meditate (I know this was a mental goal before - there're no guidelines as to how I class the goals).

Spiritual (2): Read a Zen Habits (http://zenhabits.net/start/) article each day. Who knows, enlightenment may lie just around the corner...

A final note to all those who have made New Year resolutions: Don't mind what I say. Stay focussed. Stay strong. This year you'll make it happen. 2012 is your year.