Friday, December 31, 2010

New Year's Resolution

As many people are, I have been thinking about this past year now that is almost...well, past. One thing I noticed is how many "firsts" I had in 2010. While a few of them were not ones I'd care to repeat (first time getting fired, first time filing a police report), many of them were good (first boyfriend, first trip to Six Flags, first time falling in love). I also spent a lot of time this year with older people, by which I mean people old enough to be my grandparents. I noticed that by the time you get to 70 or 80, you fall into one of two categories. The first category is people who are uncomfortable with change and tend to focus on how great things were in the past. The other category is people who roll with the changes and still seem to have more energy than people half their age. I definitely know which category I'd like to fit into in my old age.

My thought is that the best way to have an open mindset when you're older is to start out living that way as soon as possible. So my New Year's resolution is that, every day this year, I will do something new.

Technically, we all have "new" experiences all the time, because we have never lived this exact moment before. But I have noticed that most days are made up of doing the same things I've always done: wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV, go to bed. I would love to see the world, or drive cross-country to visit all 48 states (in the continental US; driving to Hawaii would be a bit difficult). But for now, I am going to start with one small thing every day.

It might be taking a different route home from work, or eating lunch at a new restaurant. It might be learning a new crafting technique (although I will not count new knitting/crochet patterns; that would be too easy). Every summer I make plans to visit different movie theaters; this summer that may actually happen. Every couple days, I will recount my new experiences here.

Question for the comments: What is the best New Year's resolution you've ever made?

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