This isn’t a post about New Years resolutions. I don’t need a holiday to make changes in my life. IT IS about lessons I’ve learned in an effort to make resolutions.
Mood music:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNUU8jHXLMg&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
There’s been plenty of unpleasant stuff this year. I’ve watched two marriages fall apart. We had a couple months where money was painfully tight. My recovery has never been easy. But that’s life.
A big fistful of goodness slammed down on me, too. Me, Erin and the kids took two drives to the DC area and back. During the first trip we got a private tour of the White House West Wing, seeing the Oval Office, Rose Garden and press briefing room. I got to meet up with good friends in San Francisco, Toronto, New York and Chicago, among other places. My recovery was tested daily, but I held it together.
Making New Year’s resolutions used to be a compulsive activity for me. I was always so desperate for something better that I fiendishly and feverishly made lists of what I would do in the coming year:
–Stop binge eating
–Stop worrying about what other people think of me
–Stop trying to please everyone
–Stop letting my mind spin with worry
–Face down my fears
I used to go crazy about all that stuff, all to no avail.
By the end of the first week of a new year, these resolutions were cast aside. The eating resolution went first, then the bit about worrying about what others think.
Thing is, I eventually tackled everything on the list. But it was a much longer process than the instant-reset fixes we have a habit of pursuing at the start of every new year.
As far as I’m concerned, there is no reset button. The journey begins when you’re born and ends when you die. Case closed.
In that spirit, I promise to KEEP AT the following:
–I will keep drinking coffee and savoring the occasional cigar. I put down the food and have sworn off alcohol. We all have a collection of addictions, and my approach is to hold firm against those that cause me the most dysfunction. Coffee suits me just fine, and the cigars are infrequent.
–I will keep listening to metal music, because it keeps me sane.
–I will keep enjoying a good humorous tale, especially the off-colored variety. 
– I will keep up and increase the devotion to my wife and children. In doing so, I will keep up and increase my devotion to my Faith.
– I will keep feeding my appetite for history and learning from the hardships of those who came before me.
–I will write a TON of articles in the world of cybersecurity because it’s what I do and what I love.
–I will keep trying to be a better friend and colleague, regardless of the date on a calendar.
–I will keep working the 12 Steps, because it is essential to my well-being.
– And I will keep writing this blog, because it’s good for me and many of you have told me it’s good for you.
Great post. I still do lists for New Year’s because it does help me, but I don’t wait for Jan 1 to start. I’ve done some extreme ‘cleanses’ – juice fasts up to 20+ days – but never without some coffee. I do recommend trying organic coffee, at least once in a while for benefits you’ll have to experience to understand. A historical side note, most citizens of Germany had no coffee during most of WWII. Lothrop Stoddard’s “Into the Darkness” tells more.
So well put, Bill. So well. Keep going.