A cat is not a dog or Your expectations are not my idea of success

Back in another lifetime when I was searching for my first house to buy, the real estate agent, Cheryl, urged me not to attend open house showings for properties beyond my financial ceiling. “You’ll only torture yourself by looking at places you cannot afford but would like to live in,” she said. “Limit yourself to showings within the range of your money and you’ll end up with a good place to live that won’t bankrupt you.” Good advice indeed, and I ended up with just such a house. It suited me well, until it was time to move on. 

I often think of Cheryl’s advice in relation to any number of things, including, most recently, new year’s resolutions: Make ones that give you what you need, maybe stretch you a bit but don’t break the psychological bank, as it were. Resolutions should match your ability to achieve them. Otherwise why bother? They will only ever be fantasy, never motivation.

Other people’s standards or expectations are beside the point. Know yourself and design your resolutions for you. Ditch the perennial ones to lose weight, get fit, spend less, read more, etc. They are too easy to make and easier, still, to break. Instead, in this second week of the new year, consider gentle, reasonable, meaningful resolutions that stand a fighting chance of making it past tomorrow to inspire you through the full year.

Mine are focused on writing, maybe not surprisingly, and they are pretty straight forward. No million dollar goals or multi-book publishing deals on my list for 2023. No. Mine are plain, simple and, I like to think, achievable. I’ll put them here for all to see, as a way of holding myself to account for them —

• Get my writing out into new venues
• Refresh this blog at the 5-year mark in May
• Earn some money from some of my writing

I also hope to get outside for a walk every day, even if it’s just a short whip around the block. I find it hard to do this, now that I no longer have to commute by bus to get to my work desk! I have achieved seven walks out of nine days so far this year. Not great, but not horrible either. Now, if only I could figure out how to make the fitness app on my new phone work, I could be one of the trendy people who count their steps. But I think it will be more productive for me to focus on my writing and to count my words, instead.

If I end the year having had a walk a day and having achieved my three resolutions, I’ll be pleased. And proud.

Should you make resolutions for the new year, I hope yours do the same for you.

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.