I can't help but make resolutions each year...and I like to put some thought into making them. At least I do now, at this stage - each January, when I'm granted more calendar days to fill. I've often found other documented lists of mine from various stages of my life - revealing many of my thoughts then - evidence of how I felt about my life at the time, or who I was. Many of those lists of resolutions surprise me by how superficial, how young they are - lots of thoughts tossed off without much depth. I found one, for instance, written so long ago that I read I'd wanted to "lose 10 pounds". Oh my. When did I only need to lose ten pounds? And did I think that would somehow make me a better person?
As I've traveled further into my life, I've worked hard to set resolutions that are somewhat attainable, still offer up a challenge, but also ones that make a promise to myself to have some fun. To wit, my resolutions, for 2009, included 1)Be nicer to my husband, 2)Wear more jewelry, and 3)Work on my foreign accents.
Shall I report on my accomplishments?
BE NICER TO MY HUSBAND
Well, after 28 years together, sometimes we both need to remember to make that effort. Our days lapse into the routine of our committments, our jobs, what to eat for dinner, what to watch while we're eating it. We do laugh a lot, we share a couple of common interests - and a few of our own individual activities. If I was nicer last year, did he notice? Maybe I should keep this one on the list for 2010 - as it's always a good one to work on.
WEAR MORE JEWELRY
This one was tough. The thing is, wearing jewelry makes me feel so adorned, so jangly. It makes me feel too flamboyant; even a simple bracelet can make me feel...loud. Others seem to wear it with ease - I put something on, look in the mirror, and wince. The good news is, my late mother-in-law had a wonderful eye for unusual pieces. And several times, throughout the year, I made a point of digging around to find some of the lovely items I'd saved of hers and slipped them on for the day. Mostly, they generated a lot of comments...which, I have to say, tends to add to my feeling-too-bright persona. But there was this one evening...I pulled out a copper and silver piece she had picked up in some foreign country, some fabulous place she had traveled to. It was very unique, heavy and clunky, and went perfectly with my outfit choice. That night, a woman I'd just met - a friend of a friend - commented on the necklace. Actually, she was mesmerized by the necklace and wanted to know where I'd gotten it, where it was made, how did I come to be wearing it. The best comment of the evening was, from her - "You know, she said, not just anyone could wear something like that and pull it off."
It is probably the only piece of jewelry I continue to wear.
WORK ON MY FOREIGN ACCENTS
It's something I felt pretty foolish practicing, even in the privacy of my own home, of my own bedroom. But things did improve. I even went through the trouble of visiting some websites that offer audio pronunciations of various dialects. Thinking of how the words would be spelled with each different accent helped a little. The overall report on this resolution would be: My Irish is quite smooth, very funny and I can lapse into it quite easily. My Scottish, unfortunately, dissolves into Pirate much too often. My British, or English accent still needs some work...but I get to listen to a co-worker who afflects that as her genuine speak, so that gives me a lot of material (and she's a really good sport to let me gently mock the things she says, while I try to learn to say them like her). My son-in-law does a crazy good East Indian dialect and I've stolen most of what I do from him. My favorite to do is a Swede...even though most of the time I just sound like the Swedish Chef from Sesame Street.
2010 PROMISES TO MYSELF
To find satisfaction in having done enough for the day, and not worry about what is undone.
More friendship time.
Write a blog.
Call my mother more often.
Let go of some stuff - some is metaphoric, some is actual stuff.
Sing more.
I'll let you know how these go. Meet me back here this time next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment