New Year's and All It's Many Resolutions

The New Year arrives and everyone starts making resolutions. 


"I want to lose weight."
"I want to exercise more."
"I want to give more service."
"I want to just be a better person in general."


Those are a few of the many resolutions we hear being made at the start of a new year. Those are all great resolutions, but what becomes of them? Oh, that's right, we're good for about a week and then we sink into our old habits. Resolutions can be hard to keep if we aren't constantly thinking about them. I never really make New Year's resolutions because I know they might not end up happening and I don't want to disappoint myself. Well, this year is different. This year I have made some goals and I am bound and determined to see them happen. I have always heard that when you set goals you need to write them down so you can be checking up on yourself and know what you're supposed to be working on. Does this count as writing them down? I've only set a few because, let's face it, when you make too many there is no way you'll accomplish them all. Life still goes on. It has all it's many twists and turns and doesn't really take into consideration the fact that you're trying to be better at 25 different things. So let's be realistic about our goals/resolutions this year. Hence why I've only made a few. They are, however, sort of big goals. 


1) Learn how to cook. I'll be moving to Rexburg in April and I want to be able to cook for myself while I'm there. And who knows when I could meet Mr. Right...and we all know men love to eat. I better be able to cook for my hubby whenever he decides to show up. (No rush though future husband, learning to cook could take some time.)
2) Learn to speak Spanish. I have taken Spanish classes since the 7th or 8th grade. I stopped halfway through my junior year and didn't take another until my second semester of college. I didn't take one this semester because I was already overloaded with classes. Well, with how many classes I've taken you would think I'd be able to speak it, right? Ha ha, well...I can't. On Mother's Day when I got to talk to Devan I could sort of speak it (I was enrolled in a Spanish class then). When I got to talk to him on Christmas I couldn't speak a darn thing nor could I really understand what he was saying to me in Spanish. So, I have set a goal to learn Spanish by May... Big goal, but it doesn't have to be perfected by May. I just want to be able to carry on some kind of conversation when Devan calls again on Mother's Day. No, I'm not doing it for Devan. I'm doing it for me. I've always wanted to speak it. But setting my goal around Devan will help me achieve it I think. It gives me a specific date and time length to learn it in. Once Mother's Day is come and gone, I can work on perfecting it. How am I going to learn it so quickly though when I've taken class after class and can't speak it yet? Well, I found this program that was aired on PBS or something. It was more like an infomercial, I guess. But the guy who came up with this program realized that we learn to speak and understand English before we learn to read and write it. When learning a new language, you sit and memorize things. You have to write in Spanish over and over again. If you give me enough time, and I've got a book in front of me, I can write in Spanish. But speaking it is completely different. So these CD's that I bought (on sale for like 10 bucks) help you learn and understand how to speak Spanish. They are 30 minutes lessons and you only do 1 lesson a day. You can listen to them in your car, while exercising, while doing whatever. You don't move on to another lesson until you fully understand the one you're working on. You don't cram. You don't memorize. You just listen and it eventually comes to you, just like English did. I haven't gotten the CD's yet, but we'll see how it goes. I'm excited to get started! Oh, I also bought a Hispanic (actually, I think they're Latino) CD off iTunes. They are amazing singers and I'm slowly starting to pick up on what they're saying. 
3) Learn to play the piano better. I took piano for 5 years. Life got busy and I quit lessons. I told myself I'd continue on by just practicing everyday and perfecting my talent myself. Well, again, life doesn't really take into consideration the goals we set. We've got to be strong willed and determined to reach them. I slowly quit practicing and now I feel like I can barely play. It's sad. So I've been trying to practice a little everyday in hopes that I can achieve the full potential of the talent I was given.
4) Eat healthier and exercise. Of course, these two are going to be on here. I used to eat pretty healthy. And during the summer I was exercising everyday. Then school started, took over my life, and I stopped exercising. Then I think I was just stressed all the time because I started eating more than I normally eat. And I wasn't always eating healthy. So I've been watching what I'm eating more. I've been eating healthier this week and I've exercised everyday this week already. I feel good and if I can keep up with it I'll feel like I used to. I'm not really trying to lose weight or look sickly skinny. I just want to be healthy and feel healthy. 


So there they are, my 4 New Year's Resolutions. I have high hopes, and with goal dates in mind (at least for the Spanish) I think I can achieve them. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck. 


Happy New Year! Bring on 2011!  :)