New Year’s Resolutions

Well, today is the last day of 2013. The new year is mere hours away, and will soon be upon us. It will never, ever be 2013 again. 

Let’s take a moment and reflect on that sobering reality: no matter what happens, whatever calendars we may use in the future, this past year will never happen again. The choices we’ve made, the things we done, read, seen, loved, wanted — it’s all in the past. We’re all a year older than we were, and there’s no giving that time back.

I can’t say if it’s been a good or a bad year for you. I don’t know if you think you’ve grown at all, if you’re at all close to the “you” you want to be.  We’ve all got bad habits we need to break, areas where we need more discipline, places we want to visit, areas where we could improve ourselves or make others happier, or both. New Year’s resolutions are a beautiful practice, a moment where we at least acknowledge our better angels, our ideals and our goals, and tell ourselves we’re going to make good this time. Some people might be cynical about failure; but all failure is is an opportunity to pick yourself up and try again. And again. And again. Because that’s what it takes to succeed.

Here at Appliances Connection, we want to offer you a hand on your bath to bettering yourself and the world, so here’s a list of some New Year’s resolutions I think we can all keep.

1. Take the stairs instead of elevators or escalators. Extra points if you live in a high rise.
2. Hide your smart phone during meals. A fun game when you eat out with friends is to make everyone put their phones in the middle of the table, and the first one to take it out has to pay for everyone’s food.
3. Cook at home more often. You’ll learn new skills and be eating better. Hot Pockets and Rice-a-Roni doesn’t count.
4. Call your mother. She loves you, you know.
5. Get a bike. Ride it. Ride it everywhere.
6. Floss!
7. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in the privacy of your own bedroom.
8. Head to bed a half hour early and read a book instead of spending time online or watching TV (or both, if you’re like me).
9. Seriously. Read a book. Read lots of books. Find a subject you enjoy and pick up a book about it. I don’t care if it’s a time-travelling vampire romance novel. Read a book.
10. Replace your smoke alarm batteries! Or hey, just get some smoke alarms.
11. Eat some veggies, bro.
12. Drink more water and less soda. Soda rots your teeth. Your dentist says this all the time. He’s not kidding.
13. I dunno, lay off the salt.
14. See your doctor at least once this year for a checkup.
15. Make your bed every morning.  It takes three minutes and makes you feel better.
16. Start eating almond butter. No, it’s not as good as peanut butter, but what is?
17. Dream journal! You’ll be surprised how weird the stuff your head does when you aren’t paying attention can be.
18. Pack a bag lunch at work instead of eating out. Compared to what you’re spending on lunch at Hale & Hearty every day now, this is basically free.
19. Listen to some new music. There’s a lot of great stuff out there.
20. Let yourself fail. Then keep going.
21. Donate to charity. There’s a bunch of great ones out there — the Red Cross, Heifer International, Plan USA — and they all let you set up automatic monthly deductions. It takes five seconds and can change a life.
22. Quit smoking. Try, anyway. Don’t get too frustrated, but work on it. Nicotine gum works wonders.
23. Learn a decent party trick. Just one fun, stupid skill you can show off at parties. Things like snapping all your fingers at once, doing a spot-on Donald Duck, reciting the alphabet backwards, speaking Ubbi Dubbi.
24. Make a new friend. I know it’s hard, but do it anyway. Friends are awesome.
25. Rid yourself of frenemies. Life is too short to spend it with people we don’t love and who don’t love us.
26. Quit Instagram. It doesn’t matter how many people like your photos, so don’t use that to measure your personal value.
27. Seriously, turn off your smart phone at dinner.
28. Hammer pants!
29. Replace some old busted appliances. Check out these sweet refrigerators.
30. Get your own stupid Netflix account. Stop mooching off your mom.
31. Help strangers.
32. Learn your way around your town. This is easier in Water View, Virginia than it is in New York. Do it anyway.
33. Volunteer for charity work.
34. Take a class! Whether it’s learning French, how to cook, Zen and the ar of motorcycle maintenance, or something else, learn something. There’s a bunch of great free online courses, too; iTunes U offers college classes free of charge, and Coursera has fully-involved online classes that are totally free.
35. Get some fresh air.

Don’t try and do all of them. Or do. It’s your choice. But just remember that the point isn’t to spend 2014 driving yourself mad, but to become a better, happier person. So dig in and do the work, and you’ll be glad you did.

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