1/04/2005 10:52:03 PM|||Patrick|||So, I've been trying to avoid blogging about a list of "resolutions" as has been popular with some of my blogging friends. And, as the trend has gone, I too hate - okay, really dislike - resolutions. It seems so banal to me to create a list of things that I hope to achieve, only to know that I will not stick to them and probably break most of them before the first couple weeks of the year is up. This is not to say that those of you who have posted yours are somehow unoriginal. Actually it's some of those items that have inspired me to consider why having resolutions is such a talked about thing this time of year.
My good friend, Stephen, had this to say about the subject:
The New Year seems to invoke a number of feelings. One of the more obvious is a sense of hope and renewal. I believe this is one of the primary reasons that we often make "New Years Resolutions", a course of actions we determine or decide on.
It is with this line of thinking that I share my thoughts today. I don't have a list. I don't have goals. I don't have anything charted out that I hope to have achieved by a certain time. I'm not going to do that. What I do have are some ideas about a few things that I would like to "address" for lack of a better term. I don't feel like I really have a need to drastically improve myself or my lifestyle, but I feel like there are areas that use some refining.
My physical health needs some attention. I've become a bit hefty over the last few years. I guess that not having a very active lifestyle combined with a desk job and the appetite of a teenager would have something to do with that. But there comes a time where I guess you have to grow up, stop eating cheeseburgers, and sweat a little bit. Raquel and I are thinking about doing this.
I want to read. My expressive mind needs nourishment. I've got a pile of books that are longking to be cracked and or finished. I guess I've already kinda started on that with the book I'm reading right now, Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover (which is part of another improvement plan). I have difficulty with sitting down and being quiet, which explains why I don't read much, but when I finally do, it's nice.
I would like to tap more into my creative side again. I absolutely love performing with Next 6 Exits but it's rare that I get to be as creative as my heart desires. For about six months before I moved to Texas I hookedup with a songwriters circle that challenged me greatly and I had a short period of time where my creative juices were flowing and I wrote a bunch of songs that met with some considerable praise. Since then, I've been dead in the water with the rather noteable exception of what I contribute to N6E.
The year 2004 continued what has been a three-year-long trend of excellency for me, of which 2K4 was the pinacle, culminating with my marriage. I expect nothing less out of this year. I do expect the improvement to continue. For me. For my wife. For my work. For my God. For life.
Thank you to you have inspired me and to those who continue to inspire.
|||110489770214904214|||New Beginnings