Decade Resolutions...

In honor of the new year, a friend of mine was asked to write an article for a Rhode Island paper about the last 10 years. She decided to do something about creating decade resolutions rather than new year resolutions. I love this idea.

Think about the last ten years of your life. The things you've achieved over a decade are probably much more grandiose than what you have done over the last year. So it makes sense to give yourself 10 years to change your life, rather than only one year. Most common resolution: lose weight. Much more manageable if you give yourself ten years to do it, ya?

What have you done in the last 10 years?

Sometimes I feel like haven't done anything. But, purely for my own indulgence--to make me feel better about me--I am going to recount some of the things I've accomplished over the last decade. You should do the same...a little pat on your own back.

Ten years ago I was 18. Since then I have...

~moved over 500 miles away from my hometown to San Diego
~earned a Bachelor's Degree, a teaching credential and a Master's Degree
~become a teacher. with seniority.
~bought my own car
~driven the equivalent of the circumference of the earth, twice over, to visit family. (That's over 48,000 miles.)
~been married for a third of the decade
~ran 1 marathon and over 10 half marathons
~lost 10 pounds
~learned how to buy appropriately fitted clothing
~accepted my hairy arms and size 11 feet
~stopped biting my nails...when I choose
~developed friendships that will easily last another decade
~(my favorite one) become an aunt...though I had very little to do with that one.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

I've heard a lot of people say recently, "I'm not a resolution maker" or "I try to improve myself constantly, not just because it's a new year." Well la-te-da to you all. I think New Year's Resolutions are fantastic because it means you are reflecting upon the last year of your life. It means taking a look at your successes and failures and then assessing the ways in which you can improve yourself and your life. It may not seem that way when you write "go skydiving," or "lose 20 pounds," or "walk along the Seine," on your list, but it's the meaning behind those things. They represent something bigger than what they actually are.

For Christmas, a coworker gave me the refrigerator magnet pictured above. It reads, "She was suddenly struck with an overwhelming metaphor for her entire existence." Kind of a depressing magnet, really, but true of me nonetheless. I do tend to focus on the more negative aspects of this world and life--something I would like to change in the next decade--and I am addicted to life metaphors. I won't do that here (your welcome) but it is symbolic of how life requires dwelling upon, reflecting upon, and improving upon as we grow up and grow old.

At the end of the next decade, I'll be 38. My resolutions, based on reflections of the last decade, are:

~Be closer to family (in the literal or metaphorical sense. So I metaphorized a little bit. So what.)
~Love my job (whatever that may turn out to be!)
~Be more positive and/or optimistic (blegh)
~See Europe (any part of it)
~Pick a doctoral program (notice I didn't say, "earn a Ph.D?" Baby steps...)
~Get paid to write stuff
~Learn to accept my thighs and addiction to soft cheeses.
~Meet Tina Fey. Earn her respect and friendship and......

That'll do. I'm getting a bit too detailed. Generality, I think, will be my friend here in long run. Ah! Long run. Perhaps the metaphor I've been looking for. It's kind of perfect if you think about it. Sorry. I lied about getting metaphorical on you....

In the long run, there will be pain, there will be indescribable joy and empowerment; if you run long enough you will cry and whimper, you will hurt and feel sick. You will want to quit. You will want to go the extra...you know. But, over the course of the long run, you'll get stronger, you'll get better, and you'll have done something good for yourself that will inadvertently do something good for those around you. That is, of course, if you're running a good race.

That's all.

Happy New Decade!

Go do good.