Inertia

With the new year upon us, I have been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish in the next twelve months. Let's face it, losing weight was the first thing that popped into my head (shocking, no?). But there's so much more under the surface.

I think I'm suffering from inertia with life in general. It's like I'm sitting still while the time is passing me. So in 2011, my goal is the be the best me I can be. To stop sitting here, settling for status quo and start going after the things that I want. While I accomplished a few goals in 2010, there were so many big ideas that I had that didn't get out of the hopper.

So, it's time to write them down (again). My "resolution" is to work at this list, to break out of the rut.

1. Lose weight: I couldn't let it go, but the past few weeks have given me a lot of thought on the issue. I think I am holding onto the extra weight like a security blanket. Anything that makes me uncomfortable I just avoid and say I'm avoiding it because I feel like I'm too fat. Truth be told, yes I am bigger than I want to be. But I'm not so big that it should be holding me back in life. It's time to shed the weight and the excuses. ALSO: We have decided we want another baby sooner rather than later, but I refuse to get pregnant with this extra weight. I want to lose about 50 pounds before we start heading down that road again. Lastly, Aidan is on the move! Keeping up with him without getting tired or out of breath is another reason.

2. Make exercise a habit: I started on this in 2010, with running. My knees started bothering me though (#1), so I just stopped doing any exercising. This year I'm going to be smarter. First I'll be walking as I start shedding pounds. Then, once some of the weight is off I will start up Couch to 5k again. Borrowed from Christina, I've decided my running goal is 11 miles on 11/11/11. That gives me 11 months to work up to 11 miles.

3. Make healthy eating a habit: My husband and I decided together to give up fast food for the year. Today is day three and I am feeling really positive about this one. Having someone else giving it up with me is really helping. I don't want to be one to cave! (He, by the way, will likely not cave. He would eat fast food from time to time, but I'm the one who would have it almost daily. He could take it or leave it I'm sure.)

4. Work to my potential at work: Work is probably the area with the greatest inertia. I got out of the workplace that I hated and found an environment that I really love. But, I've gotten to where I do what is expected and then.... well that's it. I procrastinate a lot. I could put more effort in to my appearance. I should look for opportunities to impress my boss. My job is great for right now, but I do want to move up the ladder. I knew through all of 2010 that I could and should be doing more, in 2011 I'm going to do it.

5. Organize! I hate that my house, car, office, etc. get so cluttered and messy. I've bought a new book to work on organization at work (as a part of #4). As far as the car goes, I think once a week I just need to go out there and get out the trash, toys, etc. and use the dustbuster. The plan for the house is to do the daily type chores, of course, but then to focus on one project a day. Saturday I cleaned the fridge for example. Today I'm going to clean the hardwood floors.

6. Work on relationships: I want to be a better wife/mom/sister/friend, etc. This area has the least firm plan in my head. But I know that I want to be more patient, less selfish.

Each of these areas come back to my resolution: To wake up every day and be the best me that I can be. I hope that at the end of 2011, I can look back and see that I broke out of my rut and got a few steps closer to the person I want to be. And deep down, I know that the first step to becoming that person is to do what I say I'm going to do. Here we go!