"Goals," not "resolutions"

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone reading this. Rad and I spent New Year's Eve with a small group of spanking friends, and we all stayed overnight at our host's house -- some on air mattresses in the living and dining room, others in upstairs bedrooms -- and it was lovely waking up together the next morning sharing bagels and coffee and fruit, continuing conversations (and some spankings) that had started the night before, getting to know people better -- people I've known for several years but never had serious, in-depth conversations with. We will see most of them again tomorrow night at Paddles (OTK night, the first of 2009).

I started a list of about twenty New Year's resolutions sometime during the day on New Year's Eve (I figure you have to establish your resolutions BEFORE the stroke of midnight, right?). But it started to get ridiculous -- practice guitar twice a week, meditate every day, exercise every day, write every day, work on my mosaics, create a professional website, take an exercise course, take a professional course, take a self-improvement course, pay off all my credit cards by March, etc. etc.

I decided it was too much. There are some things that are important -- I do have to pay off my credit cards, but perhaps "by March" is too ambitious. I am going to try to meditate every day for ten minutes, and to write every day for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. These are things that I need for my own well-being. I'm already exercising every day, so I'll just continue that in the new year.

I thought of one other goal, which is to answer my cell phone instead of letting it go to voicemail UNLESS I'm in a place where I can't do that, and to respond to all voice messages, emails, or text messages within 24 hours.

The other goals are good and I'll work toward them, but won't consider them "do this or you will have failed" resolutions. That's the problem with resolutions -- they become "do this or you have failed" albatrosses.

I do have one HUGE resolution (and I'm calling it a resolution because it is a really important thing that I want to improve in my life), and that is to be more positive and more accepting of myself, and to stop feeling so f'ing guilty every time I turn around.