11 resolutions for 2011

My mom used to recite the "be's" to me before I left the house in jr. high and high school. Be-have. Be nice. Be kind. And be especially nice to (insert the name of a girl I didn't particularly like). For 2011, I came up with 11 "be's" (some call them resolutions) .
In no particular order...

1) Be more like Faith, and Howie.
Every time Faith glimpses herself in the mirror, a huge smile spreads across her face.If only we all greeted our reflections like babies. Instead of seeing the blemishes, wrinkles or other negatives, I plan to look in the mirror and smile, cause gosh darnit, people like me
As for Howie, Rob or I could leave the house for one minute and when we return, the reunion resembles that of long-lost lovers, at least on his end. I don't plan to lick Rob's face when he gets home, but I certainly can show more enthusiasm for the guy I married by getting up and giving him a hug when he walks in the door.

2) Be less like a sailor.
Little ears are listening now. All I need is for her first word to be sonofabitch. Cursing doesn't make me sound intelligent so I will try to find more appropriate verbs, nouns, adverbs etc. that don't contain the syllables !%##^&$^&*)^!

3) Be healthier. 
Vague, I know. My plan is to write down the foods I consume so that I will be less likely to a) enter a brownie eating contest at work and b) eat more green stuff. My goal is not to lose weight. Currently, I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight and before you call me a word that rhymes with witch you should know that 1) I have "pumped" enough to power all the houses on our block and therefore burned a $hi#ton (resolutions don't start until tomorrow) of calories and 2) though the number on the scale is the same, my mid-section now resembles Santa's bowl full of jelly. 

4) Be a better wife.
This just in...marriage is hard. It's harder when you have a baby, even if she sleeps through the night. Rob and I have gotten into a habit of tit for tat. An "if you do this, I'll do that" philosophy if you will. I would like to let go of the notion that just because I give one day means I should receive the next. I want to get better at giving without expecting anything in return.

5) Be a dam runner. No, that is not a typo.

6) Be aware of my appearance .
Right now, doing my hair consists of scrunching it with mousse for 15 seconds. While time might be too tight to dry and straighten my hair and put on more than minimal makeup every day, I know that if I look good, I'll feel good.

7) Be a more frequent blogger. A new mom asked me the other day how I found the time to blog. I told her I have plenty of time (on my lunch hour, after Faith goes night night) but it was more a matter of motivation. Usually I use the excuse of too tired or too busy, but the truth is I could write more often. It's kind of like putting on your shoes being the hardest part about going to the gym. Once I click "create new post," it's easy. It's a matter of logging on and one click of the mouse.

8) Be a girlie girl.
The opportunities to get together with girlfriends are there, but I have this crazy mother's guilt any time I leave Faith. While I know it's good for me to get away, my heart refuses to believe it. My hope for 2011 is to have a change of heart.

9) Be in the moment more. Maybe it's the Facebook freak in me, but I'm always thinking in status updates and tweets. When Faith does something cute (which is often :) the first thing I do is yell for Rob to get the camera. While I like documenting her every move, I don't want to remember her childhood from behind the lens of a camera. The next time she smiles or giggles, I'm going to pause and sear the sound in my brain by just soaking it up like a sponge.

10) Be-lieve in the power of prayer. Instead of just reciting a few names of pregnant ladies and babies with health problems in my head during the prayers of the faithful when the lector asks us for our own special intentions at church (whew), I want to thank God more often for my food, my family and all that is good.

11) Be me. And love me for it. I know I can be impatient, stubborn, lazy, rude and (insert other less than pleasant adjectives here). While I will work on #s 1-10 to be a better person, I want to love myself for who I am and forgive myself for not being perfect. All I can do is BE the best me that I can BE!

-Nicole

6 comments:

  1. Hi Nicole! I love these, and now you've got me writing my own. You guys are really such talented writers; maybe one of my resolutions should be to share my enjoyment of my favorite blogs via the comments more consistently! Anyway, sorry to refer you to someone else's blog twice in one week, but The Happiness Project is one of my favorites, and your #7 reminded me of her #2 on this list: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2007/04/this_wednesday__2.html
    Obviously I am highly selfishly motivated here & am just trying to get you to produce more quality reading for my own benefit! ;-)
    Happy New Year Lindquists!

    Oh, and PS, since I'm coming clean about my closet stalking of your family, I bought some Jillian Michaels videos after you posted about using 30 Day Shred, and the girls from my med school class and I do "No More Trouble Zones" in the CFHL on Friday afternoons sometimes -- let me know if you ever want to join us!

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  2. Look out, Nickerbocker...your heart is showing! :)

    I hope you can grow in these areas over the next year...but remember that it doesn't take a New Year to kick these into gear...and if you feel you are falling short during the year, fret not. These are day to day growth things for the most part...not instant changes. Being intentional is hard, but you can do it! You and Rob and Faith are in my prayers. Miss you guys!

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  3. Hi Marcie,
    Thanks so much for your comment. I love comments! Glad you liked the resolutions. What were yours? Maybe I can add another one to my list :) I checked out the happiness project blog...good stuff. I'll try to remember to revisit it.
    p.s. that's funny about the Jillian videos. I've never tried no more trouble zones but have heard it will have you swearing at Jillian just like 30-day shred. Thanks for the invite. I actually have a membership to CFHL that's "frozen" right now so I may just take you up on that! Happy New Year!

    @Andrew...Miss you too!

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  4. Ugh, I wrote all my resolutions up with little explanations like yours, and the internet deleted them! :-( I will do it again soon, but I don't have the gumption right now.

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  5. 1. Before bed: get packed for the next day, put on lotion and read. I’m not a morning person, and hectically running late because I can’t find anything to pack for lunch/forgot my white coat/only have one shoe doesn’t help. Lotionwise… nothing too exciting; my skin gets dry, and I always wish I would do this regularly. And I love to read, but often neglect to make time for it when I’m tired/busy.
    2. Be nicer to M.G., my family and my roommate. M.G.’s one of those girls you mentioned whom I don’t particularly like. My family and roommate see me at my worst, and I’d like them to have to put up with less snarkiness in 2011.
    3. Write everyday. As much as I complained about having to “write to an assignment” in English classes, I can tell my composition skills are deteriorating from lack of practice in med school. Even if it’s only a “one-sentence” journal, like Gretchen Rubin’s, I want to make a habit out of exercising writing daily.
    4. Study for med school for at least an hour everyday. I don’t know when I’m going to grow out of cramming for tests! I should really be hitting the books a steady 4-6 hours a day, but that sounds horrible, so I’m trying to trick myself into a more regular schedule with, “you can do it! It’s only an hour!” Otherwise I end up sporadically panicking and having to put in some miserable 12 hour days.
    5. Exercise with my dad 4-5 d/week. My dad’s weight has been causing him health problems for several years, but I’ve always refused to exercise at his preferred hour of way-too-early-in-the-morning. And he has always refused to exercise without a buddy. So I compromised and said if he works out, I’ll be at his side, even if we have to go at a time when reasonable people are fast asleep (no offense Faith).
    6. Stop swearing and taking God’s name in vain. Ditto what you said, except instead of little ears listening, I’m striving to earn the respect and trust of my patients and colleagues.
    7. Love: Do not become easily angered, keep no record of wrongs, do not delight in evil, rejoice in the truth, always protect. Stole this one from 1 Corinthians 13. While I’m sure I could use work on everything in this passage, I feel I’m especially weak on these points. For example, they really cut to the heart of issues like gossip… am I “delighting in evil” or “always protecting” the people in my life with the things I say?
    8. Be gentler. I value my ability to speak my mind and deliver hard truths, but I can retain those parts of my personality without being harsh. I am also sometimes… noisy? rowdy? unladylike? whatever I call it, 27 seems too old for it.
    9. Clean the bathroom & vacuum on weekends when I’m not working. I hate housework! But I’d like to do it on a schedule in 2011, instead of the 2010 plan of waiting until it was direly required.
    10. & 11. Assuming I have a blind spot for my “pet faults,” I asked a few close friends to suggest New Year’s Resolutions for me, so I am (nervously) saving spots while waiting for them to find something wrong with me -- I mean, pick which of my issues they should address first. ;-)

    I got another Jillian video for Christmas. It marketed itself as an innocent yoga video, but had me breaking resolution #6 faster than you can say, "downward facing dog." However, she seems to have a point about my love handles, so I do what she says. Send me a text so I have your number (mine is on my facebook), and I'll put you on the Jillian alert system, whereby I let people know when we're planning our next masochism session! Thanks again for the inspiration, and I hope your resolutions are going well!

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  6. Wow, those are awesome Marcie! I love the bedtime routine one (I've gotten into a horrible habit of not washing off my makeup at night) and the writing everyday! As for working out in the morning, I think you'd eventually get used to it. There's a certain satisfaction knowing you're working out while most are sleeping. My "sound less like a sailor" resolution is def a WIP so don't be too hard on yourself. Last but not least, if you need extra practice cleaning, I know of the perfect house! Her's my number for the next Jillian/masochism session: 402-981-2289!

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