In Disney's "Mary Poppins", the titular character discusses that a certain promise made is a pie crust promise.
"Easily made, easily broken."
New Year's Resolutions are like that. I certainly have broken my fair share. Just as Mary Poppins eventually returns, however, resolutions return for problems to be worked on. Working on my own has been a lifelong struggle.
In fact, KatieCouric.com, The Healthy.com, and GoSkills.com, listed these resolutions in common (they are also ones hardest to keep / easiest to break):
- Exercise / Lose Weight
- Travel more
- Stop smoking
- Advancing/changing jobs/learning skills
Exercising / Losing Weight as a New Year's Resolution
As a lifelong portly person, as a promise to who is now my late disabled friend, Julie McMaster, and to myself, I resolved to exercise more and lose weight around 2009 or 2010. (I was living in Columbia, S.C. at the time. Julie was physically disabled and was expected to only live until age 50. One of my best friends, she passed away in 2020 at the age of 44. I was distraught and grieved greatly.) Back in 2009, Julie told me she wanted me to be healthier so that I would live a long time.
Around 2009 or 2010, I joined Gold's Gym and signed up for a personal trainer. Then, I attended sessions with him. Also, I speed-walked and jogged on the trails of Harbison State Forest in the Irmo, S.C. area. In addition, I speed-walked up and down the sidewalks of Broad River Road in Columbia. Finally, in a pinch, I would mall-walk.
I had a "The Biggest Loser" cookbook and would make recipes from it for my friend and me. I focused on a high fiber, high protein diet.
Eventually, I lost 100 pounds during the course of a year or so as shown here (blow it up to test for Photoshopping... LOL... this is not a weight loss gimmick):
Before this, I was probably about the size I am now. About a year or so later, I started gaining some back. And let me explain that, too.
Bad Coping Skills After the New Year's Resolution
Shortly after that time, a toxic work environment truly stressed me out when they added many additional duties without additional pay. I began to have bad coping skills with stress eating again.
Not only that, a couple of years later, I had some other struggles which required medical attention and additional meds. Losing my father and paternal grandmother in 2013 greatly added to those struggles.
One of the meds I needed caused massive weight gain and almost continous retention of weight.
My weight has been a lifelong struggle. Though the resolution was eventually broken in some ways, I have not given up.
This is me within the past couple of years before I had the beard in my freelancer photo. I am shown holding my Corgi, Ziggy:
At present, I take my Corgi on many yard walks. But I also take him every three days to go on longer walks away from home. At least once a month, I go on even larger walks out of town with a friend and his family. We just went on a large one just after the Christmas holiday as a matter of fact.
In fact, I have lost some weight recently. For example, some of my pants have become looser. I employ strategies I used in 2009. -Try to eat healthy during the week but have one cheat meal a week as a reward. This helps me from binging badly.
Also, in parking lots, I try to park in the very back or the far right or left side. At strip malls with pet friendly stores, I walk up and down them with Ziggy and walk him in those stores and back out again.
I will not make exercising more or losing weight as a resolution but a lifelong goal. I know it is something that has been broken before but can continue to be worked on.
Traveling More as a New Year's Resolution
As a contractual travel specialist with Mad Hatter Adventures Travel Company specializing in Disney vacations and an author invited as a guest to events, I have traveled a lot the past six years to decade. If I were to have made it a resolution during the COVID years, however, I definitely would have broken it. And this would have been of no fault of my own.
Recovering financially after the COVID years and for other reasons has reduced my travel, though. And I would like to resolve to increase my travel in 2023.
One addendum: I want to resolve to add travel that is a true, fairly long vacation. Yes, while traveling, I have made some promo pics for the travel company where I am contracted. Yes, I have attended events and have sold books all over the country. But I must have travel be a true vacation. Burn out is already easy when working a lot. There is no need to burn out on vacation as well. It defeats the purpose of traveling for enjoyment.
The last big break away that I had was in February of this year when I was a special guest at the Wizard of Oz Museum Grand Opening in Cape Canaveral, Florida. After that appearance, I was able to have an overnight stay at the Pop Century Resort at Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida.
Also, I had stay at an inexpensive hotel in Walterboro, S.C. while attending Atomacon in N. Charleston, S.C. (with a mini-commute from the stay in Walterboro) as a guest author around May. (I also had an overnight stay at an inexpensive hotel when I was a guest author at the DeLand Comics and Collectibles Show in DeLand, Florida toward the end of this year. But it was not a vacation either. While meeting and greeting folks, I worked to sell my books and a few collectibles. Setting up and breaking down a display and items takes time as well.)
For personal and health reasons, I had to cancel my guest author appearances at Oz-Stravagaza in Chittenango, New York and the Michigan Wizard of Oz Festival in Ionia, Michigan over the summer and fall this year. Those two festivals are like vacations and work combined because I have enjoyed them so much over the years. In fact, I have been formally invited to both and have attended them both for approximately a decade with my Oz and fantasy books. However, many cons I attend and even that grand opening can become more like work;I even covered the grand opening for another newspaper while I attended it as a guest.
Again, I was able to book an overnight stay at the Pop Century Resort at Walt Disney World after my appearance at the Wizard of Oz Museum. However, I was unable to go to the parks.
-Must resolve to return to the Disney Parks and the Oz Festivals in 2023. Cruises and international travel are on my bucket list. If I make that international or even cruise travel as a 2023 resolution, I may break it. I will continue with small steps.
Stopping Smoking as a New Year's Resolution
I should have had a complete aversion to smoking when my late father caught me pretending to smoke a coffee stirrer at his side convenience store business when I was a young child. In a disgusting garage bathroom, he made me smoke real cigarettes until I became ill and vomited. I do not condone/affirm this harsh method. But the late 70s and other time periods were just different.
When I started out at Clemson University 14 years later, I thought it would be cool and bohemian to smoke cigars (and I don't mean the blunts that people would ask for when I worked at convenience stores then). I liked the smell and taste of them, and they were a bad coping mechanism for high anxiety. Somehow I kicked the habit (probably the expense stopped it).
Next, I did hang out with the smokers when I transfered to the University of South Carolina-Aiken. But they were the humanities and English majors like me. They hung out in front of the humanities building. And I loved to discuss life, the universe, and everything with them. But I did not smoke there.
I do remember that I weaned myself off of cigars at Clemson. I went from a couple a week to one every couple of weeks. Then, I finally stopped smoking them. As many advise, do not quit cold turkey.
Also, do not try to use vaping as a substitute for regular old fashioned tobacco smoking. According to various PSAs, studies have shown that is just as addictive and just about as harmful.
Like with other addictions, engage in activities to get your mind off of smoking.
If you feel the need to have something in your mouth, get some nicotine gum and then progress to regular chewing gum.
Do not substitute food for the use of tobacco products or you will be in the proverbial same boat. As I stated before, wean yourself off of them gradually. Even use the same strategy one uses to lose weight -- exercising when you have cravings.
Finally, seek out the experts at the Georgia Tobacco Use Program. They may have behaviorist or other strategies to help you. In addition, seek out the nicotine gum I discussed or even the patches.
Free nicotine gum and patches are available to all Georgia adults (age 18 and older) when appropriate, regardless of health insurance status or coverage. To get started in paticipating in this program, call 1-877-270-STOP. In fact, when I called the number to double-check it, a spokesperson stated the number is available 24 hours and 7 days a week.
Advancing/Changing Jobs/Learning New Job Skills as a New Year's Resolution
Before leaving one of three newspaper contracts, I started with Grice Connect as a kind of early resolution in October of this year. I am very grateful to DeWayne and Whitney at the online newspaper.
In fact, I have learned new job skills in the system we use and hope to learn even more. As a New Year's Resolution, if allowable, I might seek to expand my role at G.C. Many factors will depend on if I am enabled to do this.
As G.C. readers know from my bio., I am in a town near the edge of the S.C. and Georgia border. Moving closer would be required if my role were expanded to a full-time reporter. That would mean a relatively inexpensive apartment (maybe even in one of those converted hotels I talked about in my last column). Changing health services would be required. Finally, as I am a caregiver for a relative, I would need to make arrangements for her as well. Moving to Statesboro is definitely a goal I have considered. It may not be a resolution, but it is a goal. Plus, I do resolve to acquire additional skills at G.C. regardless. One must always learn and grow.
What are some of your goals/resolutions for the New Year and how do you plan on keeping them? Please feel free to comment in the comments section.
Whatever your plans are, we here at Grice Connect hope you have a wonderful New Year!
