I love the idea of New Year’s resolutions. Keeping them is another thing altogether.
I don’t think I’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution that has been life-changing… or kept one at all, if we’re being honest. I’m much better with Lenten promises. It’s really hard to forget what you promised to do in just 40 days.
This year is going to be different, though. I swear. I have only two resolutions, and I’ve got a plan for at least one of them. The plan for resolution #2 is still in the works, but I fully intend to create a plan and work on it. Immediately, if not sooner.
My first resolution for 2012 is to cultivate more contentment in my life. I have a tendency to obsess about where I want to be six months, a year, and five years from now, and sometimes I realize that I forget to enjoy the here and now. I’m not giving up on all my goal-setting and crazy ambition, but I’m going to try to temper all that forward-thinking with more satisfaction with what I have now.
To that end, I’m going to start practicing deliberate gratitude on a regular basis. Numerous internet experts say that gratitude has amazing benefits on your health and well-being, and if an internet expert says it, it has to be true. Right?
At the very least, the New York Times said, “Cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners.”
I can’t really argue with that. So to start the year off right, here are 5 things that are already making my 2012 fantastic.
1. A Mild Swedish Winter
This time last year I thought I was doomed to eternal hermitry (hermitude? hermithood?) and frostbite. This year, it’s like spring has come three months early. Even the plants outside are being fooled—the bushes have started sprouting new leaves, and some fall roses have bloomed again.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I’m going outside in a bathing suit, but neither am I wrapping up in multiple layers of long underwear either. Yesterday, I even went on a walk. In the park. Without a hat. Exciting stuff.
This is what Malmö's Slottspark looked like yesterday... Jan 6, 2012. This is not the winter I experienced last year. Photo: Kate Reuterswärd
2. The Sun… in Sweden, in January
During the winter, sunshine is a rare and fleeting occurrence, so when the sun does come out from behind the clouds, I go crazy. Turns out there is an actual mental disorder called “heliomania,” which is characterized by manic behavior related to an abnormal or excessive love of the sun. Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities? Check. Feeling invincible and enthusiastic? Check. Unusual talkativeness? Well… no. I’m always like this.
In any case, we are now officially more than two weeks past the winter solstice and are getting more minutes of sun every single day. It’s kind of twilighty when I go to work in the morning now instead of pitch black! That can only mean that spring is on its way, right?
When I woke up, the sun was already creeping up from the horizon, and when I got to work, there was full on sunshine. Amazing. Photo: Kate Reuterswärd
3. Our new apartment
We just moved to a new apartment this past week. The new apartment has two rooms instead of one. We set up a desk in the corner of one of these rooms so now I have a place to sit and write. It has a balcony and a bathtub and, best of all, it has a DISHWASHER.
My writing nook... very exciting. Photo: Kate Reuterswärd
I know you don’t need a dishwasher to survive, but now that one has joined our family, I feel fine saying that I am well and truly sick of washing dishes. Quoth the raven: NEVERMORE!
My new best friend. Photo: Kate Reuterswärd
4. New Year’s Resolution #2: Writing a book!
I’m going to write a book. BAM. It’s out there.
I did some research, and women are better at sticking with their resolutions when they declare them in public and feel like they’re being held accountable. Based on my experiences with previous resolutions to “start working out” and “go to the gym more often,” this makes perfect sense to me. So here it is, out in the open: 2012 is the year in which I write a book.
It’s something I think about every morning when I wake up and every evening when I go to bed. 2012 is my year. The year of the book.
5. Lots of work
There’s no way to make this sound less strange, so here goes: work makes me happy. When I don’t have something to work on, I go a little crazy. It’s not just me, either; the vast majority of us are like this. In fact, this is one of the biggest challenges for expats who follow a spouse or a partner abroad without having an occupation of their own… they often feel purposeless, dependent, and depressed.
As 2012 kicks off, I have more work than I’ve ever had before—a full-time office job as a Language Consultant and this job as a blogger… plus the book! I’m going to have to adapt to the increasing demands on my time and energy, but I am looking forward to the challenge. And after all, they say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Bring it on, 2012!
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