Monday, January 01, 2007

2007: Just. Focus.

"You know, you can achieve anything you want to do," my mom said to me over the phone when I was at my friend's house earlier this afternoon. "You just have to focus."

With a brand-new year upon us, I've been sort of thinking of taking her words to heart. Especially with 30 staring right at me from just over three weeks away.

Recently, a friend of mine and I were talking about one of her friends who, in the span of four years, crossed the border and landed a good job, went backpacking in Central America, learned something she'd always wanted to do, found a wonderful man, had his baby, and recently packed up with her family of three and relocated down to the West Coast, where her partner is trying to make a go of it in his field of expertise.

I know I shouldn't even be comparing myself to someone like that. I remember once saying as a young twentysomething, "Everyone is exactly where they should be." That's before the last seven or so years happened.

I almost wish I could meet that young woman of yesteryear so I could ask her, "So where the hell am I? Am I where I should be?" (And then I could tell her what a loser-ish thing that was to say. Almost. I wouldn't want to crush the poor soul's self-esteem.)

Don't get me wrong - 2006 was decent. I had fun. I just think 2007 has the potential to be leaps and bounds better. Call it the typical New Year's optimism people like me get.

I don't like making resolutions, because I just set myself up to break them in a matter of weeks. But I have been thinking of things I'd like to see in the New Year. And even if they aren't fully realized, it'd be nice if I could get them started in some way.

Get a better job. This. Needs. To. Change. My friends and family have heard me grouse all about it. I've talked it to death. It's time for action. I just need to find a way to do it, on my own terms, and not settle. If I, by this time next year, am in the same job, I'm going to quit. I swear. This can't continue, as much as the prospects of being without those fun things like benefits and vacation time hurt.

Get more sleep. Pffft! Thank goodness I never made THIS a resolution. This could be a tough one. Maybe getting a better job = better hours, which may = better sleeps.

Become a healthier version of myself. If one should treat one's body like a temple, then I've pretty much been letting thieves feed the Rottweilers guarding mine with raw beefsteaks and lace their waterbowls with Rohypnol while they happily go a-lootin'. I don't think I'm fat or anything. I do go to the gym regularly during the week. I just cancel it out every time I cram a cookie or potato chip into my mouth, or inhale two or three glasses of Pepsi. Whatever. I think I've lost the fine art of moderation, and I need to go find it. I'm tired of being bloated. On top of which, I think I need to go an extra mile with physical activity on my own time. This isn't about losing weight (although that would be nice). I want to see what my body can do, when I make a little more of an effort.

Be more aggressive with saving money. I'm in a unique living situation - at home with the folks, rent-free - because I'm saving for the elusive down-payment for that also-elusive place of my own I want to one day have. But my "lifestyle" also means I sometimes spend my money in ridiculous ways. Taking cabs home from downtown on some nights out. Going to other banks' ATMs and paying the service charge just to take money out. Buying food and snacks I probably don't need. But sometimes I decide there are certain occasions where I don't spend money. I actually had a friend call me cheap (not exactly in those words, but close). I think I should try and be more consistent. If I'm going to be frugal, let's be all-the-way-frugal. Or if I'm going to spend my money within reason, I should do so across the board. And start socking away more of my hard-earned money, while I'm at it.

Learn something useful. I'd love to learn a new language. I keep saying how I'd love to learn Spanish. I'm also dabbling with a second attempt with learning how to drive, after my double-failure in 2005. We'll see.

Learn something fun. I keep saying I'm going to take up dance lessons because I think I have two left feet, but who knows? And if not dance lessons, maybe it'll be something else.

Do something I'd never dream of doing. EVER. At a party a couple of months back, I was catching up with someone I'd not seen in ages, and she suggested we should get together and do something fun. Like have a girls' day on a shooting range. I've never shot off a gun in my life. And after having my uncle drunkenly wave a rifle at me in Fort Lauderdale earlier in the year, I had my reservations, to understate it. But maybe ...

Go somewhere I've never been before. I've gone to places in the Caribbean and the U.K. But I need somewhere completely different. One of my friends went partying in Croatia last. Croatia! And he had a great time. I'm sure that's the last place he would have considered, had you asked him earlier in the year if he'd be interested in going. My dream place to go travelling would be Spain. It's an obsession I've had for at least a couple years now. But I'm not sure if that's going to happen this year. I don't think my trips even need to be as far away as that. There have been cities on this continent I've never seen, some of which a friend of mine brought up recently: New York. Vancouver. Halifax. Los Angeles. Las Vegas. And I should really just get up and go whenever someone says, "Come and visit!" Honestly, I'm so set in my ways ...

Fill my one-date quota for the year. You people think I'm joking. Seriously? Galapagos Island tortoises mate more frequently than I get dates. For the last several years I kept tally of my one-date quotas for each year, which was pretty much the average. But there's been a famine for the last while. There's not a lot of people I've been attracted to, and the people who have been attracted to me, I've not been interested enough in them to date. (Maybe out of fear.) But it would be pleasant if that changed. Maybe I could go over and above the quota. But that's getting ahead of myself. I would just like to request one thing: a moratorium on geeks, if that's completely possible. PLEASE.

Get a piggyback ride. I thought about this walking down the streets with friends in the wee hours of this morning. I can't remember the last time I've gotten a piggyback ride. Getting just one this year would be life's way of letting me know that youthful exuberance is okay, at any age. Any takers?

But enough posturing and daydreaming. Time to get crack-a-lackin'.

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