"Goals" Doesn't Sound As Breakable

I hate the word "resolution."

I've never made a resolution I didn't break. They seem to be made to be broken. Almost as if they are purposely fragile. I'm a clumsy sort of person and for that very reason, I don't have breakables sitting around my home. I'm certainly not going to CREATE something that is only MEANT to break.

Instead, I'm setting some goals. "Goals" can be reached for and missed, but you never break a goal. You never cheat on a goal. I'm going to share some of my goals for 2008 with you.

No matter how tired I am from working, I'm going to write a little (on my manuscripts.... this blog doesn't count, much as I love you all. This thing is not going to spring me toward my goals!!!) every day. Writing every day used to be a way of life for me and I'm hoping it's not too hard a habit to force myself back into.

Second, and still in vein of writing, I'm going to give myself one month to finish polishing this particular manuscript and get it back out there in the ether to collect either some more rejections or to find its home. So by February 1st Gwen and Will will be back out on the road, making the rounds at my favorite agents and my dream publishing house.

Financially, my goal this year is to raise enough money to pay off our credit card debts. We've been working this Dave Ramsey thing (well, working it kind of in a higgeldy-piggeldy fashion) and it's time to kick it into gear. Plus, once we get the credit cards paid off I might be able to stop working. And that's goal number four: no more complaining about my job. Everybody hates their job and until the moment when I can truthfully say, "I don't like my job and I don't think I'm going to go anymore," no more whining about it. It's tiresome. And I know when it's become tiresome to ME, it's got to be making you roll your eyes and call me pansy-type names.

And in THAT vein, back to the workouts. Yes, I've developed even more killer arm muscles from the scrubbing, but the regular workout has got to make a reappearance this year. My goal is to begin at three times a week. Twenty minutes of intervals on the elliptical followed by weights and some good yoga poses for the lengthening and calming effects.

And moving on in THAT same vein, the weight loss is about to kick back into gear (now that an un-named medicine has worked its evil way back out of my system with its weight GAINING tendencies!) and I'm setting the end goal of THAT at forty more pounds for a total of seventy pounds lost. I can possibly accomplish that by the end of the summer without either starving myself or killing myself in the process. We shall see. But, you see, the timing of the final amount is NOT the goal. The goal is simply the loss of forty more pounds. Since my body seems to have finally adjusted to the weight I've held onto for the past month and a half (no more cold feeling!!!) I think it's time to move on down again.

So that's it for me. No "resolutions" that are going to break by the end of the week. No deadlines for things I can't really control, enabling me to think of myself as a failure. I CAN do what I'm setting out for myself. And with my shiny new positive attitude thing (which seemed to kind of mystify my sister and my dad, too, when I was up for the holidays...) I won't allow myself to wallow if and when there are setbacks.

I'd love to know any of your own goals for the new year. I think this year is going to be a good one. I can just FEEL it inside me. Let's do what we can to share our goals and really support each other. Lift up your friends when they slip a bit, and allow someone to be a support for you. No man is an island. Or at least not a tropical, sunny island. A grouchy man without friends might be one of those scary, windswept Antarctic islands and why would he want to be that? Even there the penguins know they have to huddle together in masses to survive.

Happy New Year to you all! I'm off to write a scene.