New Year’s Resolutions
I generally don’t do New Year’s resolutions but this year with all the political nonsense going on, I’ve decided on few resolutions that seem worthwhile in the coming year. First, stop getting upset by politics, it doesn’t help. Action helps, a coronary doesn’t. Second, quit doing any work that is hard or upsetting: what’s the point? Work and production are not valued in the new Obama economy, so why bother to do something that is hard or stressful? High productivity is laughed at, scoffed at, and basically envied or turned into class warfare — or worse, used to subsidize those who are not. Finally, try to meet and help those who are liberty-minded as opposed to those who are statists who believe that people who are productive are the bad guys.
Do you have resolutions this year? If so, share them if you wish!
Thanks for sharing your resolutions. I really love #2 in particular but for a different reason than you stated. I think we often think we need to do hard/upsetting things because we are taught that being a quitter is bad. While I think plenty of people quit things when they are difficult and they shouldn’t, I have the opposite problem: I stick with something long past the point that I should. For example: I volunteered for a role for a non-profit organization that I was particularly bad at. It stressed me out and make me feel awful about myself. A few months ago, I realized the terrible effect it was having on me, and I bowed out. Now a few months later, I feel better, and they have someone in the role who is much more effective.
So one of my resolutions for 2013 is to remember that sometimes it is okay to quit. Constantly doing things that make us miserable is a bad way to live.
Another resolution for me is to focus on results and not tasks. I am very task driven, so I tend to see crossing items off my to-do list as success. Unfortunately, I always have more items on my list than I complete. Also, the items on my list tend to be given equal weight, so I feel better if I’ve done a lot of them, even though they probably were the simple and unimportant ones.
So this year I am going to focus more on results. I’m going to accomplish this by asking myself each day: what can I accomplish today that will make me feel like I had a successful day? And then I will just do that.
I have a few friends that I know any conversation with them is going to soon turn to how bad their job is, how their boss and or company is evil and how stress is making them ill. It’s okay to find another job. Quitting is sometimes the right move to make.
My hair is turning prematurely white and I have a stress related illness—I learned this lesson the hard way.
I am going to stop worrying about federal politics and get more involved in a local level.
GB – great idea I am going to try that as well.
I am going to run at least one 5k or greater race a month for the remainder of the year.
1 of 12 is done today.
I’ve also swallowed the red pill. I’m going to take apart pretty lies wherever they have the misfortune to cross my path.
Don’t do that. Running is very bad for your body. Swing some kettlebells around instead.
My resolution is to not tell people what I’m up to.
But…but you JUST told ‘people what I’m up to.’ LOL. Just kidding. Have a good year.
Yea; We know one of Obama’s spies when we see one.
Feste the Weatherman’s forecast for 2013 is ‘The rain it raineth every day.’
so resolve to play ‘The Fool’ as described in the Tarot and ‘Twelfth Night’.
I really like this one! Twelfth Night is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and in these crazy times, one could do worse than look to Feste for an example of how to cope with things.
Some days it seems more like Titus Andronicus than Twelfth Night…:/
Helen –
I think I understand where you’re coming from with the resolution to not do work that is “hard or upsetting/stressful”. And while I agree with the upsetting/stressful part, I would take some exception to the hard part. Some of the most personally satisfying work I do is hard. Some of it I might do even if I weren’t being paid for it. The economic Obacalypse is irrelevant to the matter.
I do have a passive-aggressive streak, so I resolve to be more subversive. I’ll tell little children that there is no Santa Claus living at the North Pole. I’ll tell college students that for the next four years, for the foreseeable future there will be no jobs waiting for them. I’ll tell young women that they can start shopping for a burkha. I’ll tell young people that their economic future and civil rights are screwed unless they get involved and vote out progressives like Obama and his ilk and return to an older, better set of values.
My resolution is to prepare for a possible crisis by streamlining my life and making sure I can safely and comfortably stay or leave with my kids should the need arise. I cannot ignore national politics, although I wish I could.
The only resolution I ever apply to myself is, “do better.” I don’t need to parse it into categories and specifics, I know what I mean by “better.”
I like all the resolutions above. I will add that I will take better photographs and send them more often to more people.
My resolution this year is to learn Spanish and to help Spanish speaking people at my parish and their children take advantage of the opportunities that they tend to not be aware of.
Before November 7th I felt that the influx of low skilled immigrants was harming low skilled fellow Americans. Since I realized that the country that I thought I lived in is as vanished as the Byzantine Empire, those ties of affiliation I used to feel no longer exist for me and I need to adjust myself to the world as it is. Besides, fluency in another language will give me additional options in case things in the US get significantly worse.
Just a heads up – things in the US will get significantly worse.
Forget Spanish. Learn Chinese. Then you can assist our New Overlords when they arrive.
Gilligan, if you think learning Spanish will give you additional options, I would like to know just what Spanish speaking country will be better off than the United States when everything goes down the tubes? I am not being sarcastic, or trying to put you down, just curious.
Many Spanish speaking countries will probably be better. Many of them are already living in the third world and the collapse will affect them least- the civil unrest and riots will not appear there. Further, many of the Latin American cultures are still strong, and therefore create pockets of fairness and justice even when the govt is corrupt. (Sort of like the Chinese–Confucian by day and Taoist by night) and the people can be wonderful. However, you must be able to pass as “one of them” – When this goes down, the US and its citizens are going to be pariahs – our refugees hated. If Your aren’t accepted as one of their own, (or one of the “good ones”) you will have a hard time of it. Racism is alive and well in the rest of the world. If this is your plan and you are white, best to get down there now and start proving yourself.
In other wrds, you’re gong to attempt to help people reach their full potential – Can’t get more American than that!!
i think you’ll find it more interesting and rewarding than you anticipate.
You can start by translating the Constitution into Spanish for them, though i supect people who go to America for the freedom often have much to teach in their turn.
good luck!!
Apologies for typos.
I’m working on stopping getting upset by politics, but that work is itself hard and upsetting.
Can I just go back to my original obsession?
////
Hard work is its own reward. Screw the statists.
My resolution is to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative
Holding so far, 1 day in.
So “going Galt” is your resolution.
Well, I’m ahead of you on that, yet it smells a lot like giving up, and I’m never going to give up entirely. Maybe Google’s slogan is good no matter how they misinterpret and violate it – don’t be evil.
I’m going Gault on political parties. I will vote, but I can no longer tell the difference between the parties, so why register with one of them?
“Do you have resolutions this year?”
1. Quit smoking
2. Get some exercise (mouse clicks don’t count)
3. Don’t start every new year with a hangover
4. Lay off the salt
5. Try and get laid at least once this year
So far, I’m off to a terrible start, though there’s a remote possibility that #5 might still happen.
Gee wiz, for a second I thought that was my post. I’m not sure about the salt thing, but I too am off to a terrible start. I, too am thinking that #5 is a remote possibility. Am waiting for the drum roll on that one.
Hope springs eternal.
I think one through four are pretty much lost causes. Five is possible, if I can just catch my ex on a day when her will is weak, and she’s misplaced her glasses.
Salt isn’t bad for you. It’s an essential electrolyte. Just switch to Celtic Sea Salt.
Thank You for your smily face
Sally, thank You for your smiley face.
Here is some good news for #2
Superb post, Dr. Helen. I am always conflicted by the drumbeat of unfairness from the Democratic/MSM Axis of Propaganda. Picking my battles will be the way to go.
But….family is more important. Friends, too. I like the local involvement comment above.
Best wishes to you and yours, ma’am.
Find a way to take my conscience out behind the barn and shoot the f**ker for good, so I can become a respeced member of society like our corporate leaders, celebrities, and politicians.
So you want to quit smoking. The first step is to forget the primal screams about cancer, impotence, hangnails et al. Instead think about all of the things that you do that give you pleasure, working on the car, taking the dog for a walk, building and repairing things around the house. Then think about feeling healthy enough to do them but only having five minutes of air. COPD isn’t a killer but it is an inhibitor. Being self sufficient only works if you have the oxygen to accomplish your goal. Good luck and don’t forget to change friends (to the non-smoking kind).
50 year smoker.
Good luck. I’ll use that idea in my diet.
Then think about feeling healthy enough to do them but only having five minutes of air. COPD isn’t a killer but it is an inhibitor.
Two COPD facts (one good, one sad):
1. Only about 1/3 of smokers will develop it.
2. About 1 in 10 to 1 in 5 people who develop it didn’t/don’t smoke.
The reasons for both appear to be some genetic susceptibility.
Moral, if you didn’t smoke because you watched COPD’s effect on a parent you need to get that persistent cough checked out. Because you didn’t smoke you’re better off but you’ll be amazed how much the inhaler helps you.
I quit smoking two days after Turkey Day. I bought two of the best electric cigarettes on the market (http://www.vtvapor.com/index.php) and a bottle of mango flavored liquid nicotine. Presently, I don’t much think about puffing on the e-cig and have gone two days without it. I should be off the e-cig by end of January. I can’t recommend them enough to quitters!!!
I put my finances on Quicken December 1. By the end of December, I had begun two savings accounts and revamped my IRA and 401(k).
I am almost finished putting the structure of the novel I began 12 years ago onto PowerStructure software to eliminate weaknesses and develop plot lines. I should have it on Create Space by end of May. Still have to contact
Santa gave me $300 in Amazon cards, $120 of which went to books on making money online, Kindle and affiliate programs. I am Kindling myself silly during breaks at work, taking notes on Hotmail and saving the drafts for transfer to my PC at home.
I bought an ab bench two weeks ago. Still staring at it in dismay when I get out of bed at 4am. Nerves. Must. Get. Nerves. To. Function.
Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese Program #1 en route from Amazon. If Internet business goes well, I am off to Rio de Janeiro to disgrace myself beyond explanation. [If you want to learn a language, don't waste your time with Rosetta Stone. Pimsleur kicks total ass.]
Took my conscience and a 9mm Baretta out behind barn December 24. Relatives still not speaking to me.
There’s a trick to making changes in your life. Don’t do it on January 1. Highest failure rate in the entire year.
Still have to contact software expert for cover art for book.
There.
I love the last one Dr. Helen and even got a bit of a head start on that one. I had to endure constant anti-repub, anti-fox, pro-obama rants from my personal trainer so I fired her. It was easy enough, the increased taxes that she so dearly wanted to see made it impossible for me to keep paying her anyway.
I also do my best to seek out the small business owners or liberty minded businesses and eschew those that have taken liberal stands like Netflix or Pepsi.
It makes no sense to invest your money with those hell bent on your destruction.
Next step it to figure out how to do more trading and cash work. I’ salaried though so it won’t be so easy.
Joint custody.
Good resolutions Dr. Helen. I’ve been thinking along the same exact lines all week. I’ve been venting by blogging, facebook-ing and now twittering, but I think I’m just preaching to the choir. Lefties in my family just shake their head and don’t listen to my “crazy ranting” (I don’t, I just offer the truth)…
Who am I kidding? The left love their lives and they will love them to the demise of everyone else since the end (their utopia) justifies the means. I see the USA going down, slowly, with help from pansy “Republicans” in power, who vote along with Dems to keep their place at the treasury trough…
But see, there I go again, obsessing about politics.
OK I realize I cannot stop caring about America. I do… but I don’t live there any more, so who am I? I’m just an expat, who was lucky enough to live through Reagan times and had a very rude awakening in 2008 when I realized the “country” was filled with leftist nincompoops in power (media, schools, political offices) all over the place…
Yep, I love capitalism – but I live in a quasi-socialist country now (NZ)… and I’m not fully enjoying myself. I have to find the good… I plan to get involved (as much as I can) locally to see if I can help stem the tide of NZ’s own march towards communism. Dunno if anyone will listen to me down here. I follow conservative NZ politicians so will continue that…
Well, summer here while USA has winter – so that is a good thing.
I’ll continue my “ranting” about the truth and how it is all citizens responsibility to keep their government accountable. I will cheer all gains by center-right-moderates in the USA. I’ll stop stressing, but keep talkin’…
I can’t “un-know” stuff now… too late, I know the truth.
Damn… (deep breath, enjoy my life, family, friends, pets, beautiful home, great job, OK health and gorgeous country… I can do it… breathe…..)
I resolve to not engage in politics in any way, shape, or form on social media.
I had the same resolution for 2012. I don’t have a lot of Facebook friends – mostly family, cousins, nieces, nephews – but it was quite a trial to refrain from countering some of the, er, stuff that they put out. I almost made it. There was one that I had to counter, in that it was a frontal attack on Christianity. (At least that’s how I justified my responding.)
I resolve to avoid unpleasant responsibilities, at home and at work, by means of blood clots.
Having my 12 heavens on my Island i have asked myself why leave my rich Island in the sea? Because it is God’s will so this year i translate the 12 heaven to the White Mountains and the great City. Having heaven experiences every hour of the day this is good I have a limp from my left knee to remind me I am like you flesh blood and bone and I encourage all humans to pray for healings in your lives and healing in the lives of your loved ones then have the revelation revealed to you to love your enemies and pray they be healed from their demons
i go NOW with my snowshoes with temp )-0 F to my log cabin to light the fires to burn away the demons my enemies have
What great robust joy when one is filled with faith and hope with the signs of assurance one is doing the Will of God then blessed with Divine love yet knowing where one is on the earth where your faith and hope can be snatched from you yet the mercy from God can restore this and bless you with much love
I too backed off from politics a bit after November. Now I am kind of ignoring politics but am working toward gently and succesfully confronting political myths and inaccuracies.
More time spent listening to music is in my future.
I want to miss less church.
I want to be more loving and kind.
That should keep me busy!
Happy New Year everyone, let’s make it a great one.
Trey
The kids are grown and on their own. So, lots of garage jamming with like minded players who quit years ago to work for a living, and are returning to what we love on the down side of the hill. Other than that, I’m adopting taterearl’s point of view. Oh, and the red pill, too. Right, wrong, or indifferent, Joe and Mary’s baby boy likes to get laid. Like minded females are not as hard to find as one might think, and adopting tater earl’s point of view in that arena is a good thing. Don’t forget that not caring one particle what others think is actually therapeutic.
To move to Canada, with the ultimate goal of renouncing my status as a citizen of the USA.
To learn to paint.
To attend church more often.
To always count my blessings.
To look for beauty.