the week of living resolutely, day 1

Image again borrowed (stolen) from here. I'm getting lazy.

I am a huge fan of resolutions. When I was in middle and high school I used to carefully write out a list of resolutions for the new school year every September, and I am a devoted New Year's resolutions maker. Most of all, though, I make weekly and daily resolutions. These are subtly different than to-do lists, somehow: "email Kathlene" might go on a to-do list (and is on my current one, as a matter of fact), while "drink 64 oz. of water" is a resolution. To-do lists are about accomplishing tasks. Resolutions are about doing things to become a better, happier, and healthier person. I make both constantly.

But I've been noticing something in the past few weeks--while my to-do lists change all the time, my resolutions are almost always the same. Drink more water. Write. Exercise. Simple stuff, really, but apparently I haven't been getting it. I've also been reading Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project, in which she decides to dedicate a year to doing small, measurable things to make herself (and, hopefully, by extension her family) happier. Inspired partially by this and partially by a giant confluence of other things, I have decided to make this week, May 17th through May 23rd, The Week Of Living Resolutely. For one week I'm going to try to actually do all those things I keep telling myself I need to do. I narrowed it down to seven basic things:

1. Drink enough water (defined as 64 oz., which is ludicrously hard for me to do)

2. Wake up early (defined on weekdays as somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30. I haven't decided yet for weekends)

3. Write (for at least half an hour a day. Blogging counts)

4. Exercise (for 30 minutes to an hour)

5. Eat less sugar (this has the pornography definition; I know too much when I see it)

6. Be on time (oh, gosh)

7. Restrict napping (to times that I pre-decide based on the events of the day; no more napping just because I'm bored)

Here's the thing--I realize how pathetic this sounds. I mean, "restrict napping"? Really? Yes, really. These are my little things. I share them with you simply because I'm hoping that in sending this out to the universe that I'll feel more inclined to actually stick with these resolutions. Ross is also joining me in some points of The Week of Living Resolutely (specifically, getting up early and eating less sugar).

Now for the check-in. Today went well, actually. I drank my full 64 oz. of water, which seems like nothing short of a miracle. Spouse and I got up at 7:30, I'm writing now, and I took THE BIKE up to Washington Park (Dear Nicole: Thanks so much for the loan!). I only put two sugar cubes in my tea, as opposed to my usual... actually, let's just keep that number to ourselves. I was almost on time to Girl Scouts, and I didn't take a nap.

Day 1 of The Week? RESOLVED.