What do Yoda, LisaHas2Cats & Hogwarts have in common? My New Year's Aspirations!

A new year and I ask myself: To blog, or not to blog? I really don’t have the time for it. But I’m slightly miserable without a (non-work-related) creative outlet, and this one doesn’t saddle me with do-or-die deadlines or fundraising imperatives. I like that. I think I’ll keep it. (So much easier than a puppy.)

I’m not normally a numbers person (I tell people that part of my brain has atrophied since marrying Tom, the human calculator), but I can’t help noticing that Blogger tallies my entries. It shows a steady decline since I started: 131 my first year, 65 my second year, 32 in 2011. If I only log 16 in 2012, will it be worth it? To me, yes. Just to keep this option open. And that decision made, I begin the new year with a sigh of relief. (Decision-making is an arduous process for people like me. Just ask my friend Mary — she’s a personality assessment expert…and when it comes to decision-making, my opposite!)

Next: Resolutions. I’ve never been a big fan. That’s a lie. I make them all the time. I psyche myself up for major life changes at the slightest excuse for a sticker chart: New week, new month, birthday, anniversary, obscure saint’s day… I start counting the days, weeks, months it would take to achieve thus-and-such a goal. Usually weight loss. How prosaic, right? But the problem with my resolve is that it usually desolves (dissolves, that is).

So this year, I choose Aspirations instead. Another friend (who, by the way, lost a ton of weight a couple years back — okay, a 20^th of a ton, but still…) — he  quotes Jedi Master Yoda: “Do or do not, there is no try.” I realize this kind of thinking lights a fire under some people, but it makes me shut right down. I need to be able to “try, try again.” Even if it means postponing achievement indefinitely. Because, the way I see it, “Do or do not” means failure is a dead-end. And my life, demanding as it is, does not involve any light-saber duels to the death. As long as God gives me breath, I can keep experimenting and endeavoring to do and be better. It’s like LisaHas2Cats on SparkPeople.com wrote a while back:

If you forgot to brush your teeth last night, did you decide this morning to throw in the towel and never brush your teeth again? Since you're obviously a slob who doesn't have enough self- discipline to remember to brush your teeth, why bother brushing them at all if you forgot to last night? Of course not. So if you had ice cream for dinner last night, or didn't exercise yesterday, or gained a pound this week: Don't throw in the towel! Make a healthier choice for dinner tonight by eating something lean. Go for a short walk. Weigh in again next week. Just do NOT give up.

By the way, it looks like LisaHas2Cats could use a little encouragement. If you’re a SparkPeople member, consider leaving her a good word. If you’re not a SparkPerson, why not give it a try? It’s free, and if you tell ’em I sent you (I’m DeepBreath33), I get a bunch of bonus points. Which is almost as good as a sticker chart.

OK, so what are my New Year’s Aspirations?

1) Slim down a bit. If this were Hogwarts, I’d say 40 pounds slimmer. But in A-Town, 20 pounds will do. (Thirty would be nice.)

2) Scale back a bit. I’m leaving a big box at the base of our stairs and I’m asking my family to pitch in. The Goal: In 2012, we will get rid of at least 12 items per week. As in Goodwill, Goodbye. (I did an e-haul this morning, deleting 947 stale from my Gmail account — woo-hoo! I feel so light!)

3) Write a bit more. A modest goal of 16 blog entries this annum? Nah, I’ll quadruple it and aspire to 60! Five per month. (Tom did the math for me.)

Happy New Year!