It’s time to look back on my 2020 resolutions one final time: and make plans for what’s to come!
This Friday will begin a new year! With the stroke of midnight, coronavirus will become a memory, racial tensions will disintegrate, and Shane Dawson will have the number one trending video on Youtube. I’m kidding! The new year is more of a fresh start for us as individuals rather than a re-do of 2020’s potential. I actually think this is a real test of our integrity as people. Predictions are that the world will return to their offices, away from the work-from-home desks, in the summer of this year (though it’s also being said that work-from-home will now be the new norm!). We have the first six months to make those changes, take those steps, that we said we would do, but didn’t as a result of the pandemic!
I must admit, my 2020 resolutions were partially impacted by the pandemic. Some didn’t happen at all, and some didn’t happen as well as I would have liked. The big question is, how much is the pandemic an excuse vs. an explanation? How can I fix that in 2021? Let’s get started!
1. Read 52 Books. If I finish the one I started last week between now and the end of the day tomorrow, and finish the poetry collection I have up next in my queue, I believe my count will be closer to 30 than 52. Still, thirty books in a year! That’s more than I could say for myself in a very long time. Scrolling and Youtube are my excuse for not seeing through to the end some of these books, and I’m less than impressed with that fact. To be honest, I think that I would have been closer to 45 than 52 if I had been PERFECT about prioritizing reading over TikTok. Keep that in mind for my 2021 New Year’s Resolutions!
2. Do Pull Ups. This is a 50/50 failure on my part. The doors in my apartment are super high, so I couldn’t hang a pull up bar from them safely to practice when the gyms were closed. That said, I could have worked on my upper body strength more in other ways! When the gyms reopened, I could have been pulling myself up (or attempting to) for ten minutes six days a week! I didn’t. I’m kind of bummed about this one, because I really want to do pull ups! I want that upper body strength! My priorities in the gym kept changing, and this one fell to the side.
3. Spend LESS. TIME. SCROLLING. Considering I spent nine months indoors, downloading TikTok in the first month of the pandemic, I actually don’t think this was a complete lost cause! Some days were better than others but I think that in general I was on my phone less.
4. Write 104 Blog Posts. I made a huge mistake! When looking at my notes, I realized that I’m going to be two posts short. My count from last week accidentally included drafts. This is a big bummer for me. I feel very silly. I think I gotta do this one again in 2021 as a result. MAKE IT 106 AS A REDEMPTION SONG.
5. Romantic Trip with Aaron from Dec. 26 2020 – January 2 2021. This one I can blame the pandemic for failing to complete! We had a plan, and a backup plan, and then the pandemic shut us away from luxury trips and hotels. I hope that by 2021 we can change that. I want to go on, like, a TWO WEEK vacation with him when the world opens its borders again. Amsterdam! Germany! Venice again! Turks and Caicos! I WANNA GOOOOOO.
6. Stop Engaging in Internet Schadenfreude. I have gotten better with this! I went down far fewer rabbit holes than last year, and I’ve unfollowed people on social media who disappoint/irritate me. I still check in sometimes, but it’s way less of a toxic habit than it was in 2019.
7. Take Better of My Skin. My skin is HAVING A MOMENT. Yesterday, I did my eyebrows, put on eyeliner, mascara, and a little lip oil. Aaron said I looked great and I should do my makeup like that all the time. Read that routine again: no contour, no blush, no full face of foundation. Just me! That felt good to hear. Granted, I thought I’d be toasting the end of 2020 on a boat, wearing a bikini that would show off a lack of bacne and perfectly tanned skin, but I’ll take that compliment. This one won’t be in the 2021 resolutions, but assume I’m continuing with this one in maintenance mode. More water, quicker changes out of workout clothes, and sunscreen!
8. Go Stargazing. I did it! In the eleventh hour, I did it! On December 22nd there was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. It was all over the news, being declared a “Christmas Star.” Naturally, I went for a walk to try to see it, and Aaron came with me. We went outside too late to see it in my neighborhood, but Aaron and I pointed out our favorite constellations, pretty stars, and listened to music as we looked up at the sky. We even saw a shooting star! Even though I wish I had seen all of the pretty astral events throughout the year, that night made it worth the wait.
9. Get a New Job. This didn’t happen this year, and I have mental breakdowns over it about once a week. I keep applying to jobs, though! At the end of this month I actually started to consider staying in my current job, at which I know the schedule, and focus on exterior projects (like a certificate or two) to get a job with a much higher income! TIME TILL TELL.
10. Do a Handstand. This didn’t really happen this year, but not for lack of trying! I worked on this consistently at the gym and I can get myself up, and stay up if someone provides some resistance. I’m keeping this one as a 2021 resolution, too.
11. Go See Two of My Favorite Performers. This didn’t happen because of the pandemic. I did see one of my favorite comediennes, Iliza Schleslinger, at the VERY beginning of the year, so I did the best I could with what I had. Instead, I created a bucket list of people and shows I want to see live. Hopefully by 2022, concerts and comedy tours will resume and I can get started on that list!
12. Lose Weight. I gained weight. BIG yikes. Big being the operative word here. I have a lot of work to do. I find myself out of breath a lot more than usual lately! I need to be healthier in the new year, and the years after that.
13. Give Aaron a Great Birthday. This one got done! We had great birthdays, a nice anniversary weekend, and good time spent together being in lockdown with each other and our cats. I’m very lucky to have him.
14. Be a Better Friend, Wife, Sister, Daughter and Granddaughter – I feel like I nailed this one, with the exception of my grandparents. I think I will always wish I talked to them more. There’s a big video chat tomorrow for them to celebrate their 70th anniversary! They got married on New Years Eve. How romantic, right?! I’m participating in that, and I sent a card in the mail to them this morning. Mom says that there’s a slight possibility, if the conditions are right, that I could go spend a month or so with them after the new year, since I can work remotely and like being in New York with them. I would positively love that.
15. Be Happy. I had a lot of high highs and a handful of low lows. I feel like I actually was full-on depressed for a month. Still, only one month in a really nasty year is pretty dang good! I feel like I got a lot done, with a still a lot more to go. I just hope that this time next year, I’m even happier.
I truly believe that the only failure is failure to try. Save for switching my priority from pull-ups to handstand this year, I didn’t abandon my resolutions. While I agree there’s accountability and ownership to take when you get a B when an A is attainable, there’s something to say for continuing to try. I will continue to persevere in 2021. Some of these resolutions will follow me into the new year, and some of them will be a mere reminder for healthy practices to make me a better human being. That’s what resolutions are about, anyway: being better!
See you Saturday for my 2021 resolutions. Spoiler alert: Saturday is part of one of them.