Self Improvement

2010. Our first glance at the tens column of the 21^st century and our last look back at the decade that we haven’t even hammered out a name for yet. This Friday at 12:00 AM, every alive person on the planet will have survived 2009. And every second of the 31, 556, 926 seconds in the upcoming year will determine whether in 2020 we will say, “2010 – what a great year,” or “what a hard year,” or, “what happened that year?”

I’ve never been that much into resolutions because I’ve never needed to lose weight, but this year, I’m taking change seriously. I don’t want to just “get through” 2010; I want to conquer it. I want to arrive at 2011 the way that I finish 5k races: smiling triumphantly and wheezing like I’ve simultaneously gotten pneumonia and had an asthma attack. So here is my list. It’s short (if you disregard all of my commentary), but it’s meaty. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.

1. Blog more.

I admit it: I don’t just write this blog because I want to share my valuable revelations with the world. Revelations are 90% of the reason that I write it. But there’s another 10% that I’ve been keeping a secret until now because it’s embarrassing to say. Here it is: if I get enough people to read this blog, Google will pay me (in money) to keep it up. This may seem like a natural cause and effect to you, but for young writers, being paid to write gives us this odd sensation that we are scamming people. In my writing classes, professors are tirelessly reminding us that they are teaching us how to get paid to write. I imagine this is less of a topic of discussion with accounting majors, who rarely seem to fear that they will end up living in their step-grandparent’s basement because they won’t be able to support themselves from the compulsive 2 AM budget balancing that they do by candle light in a cat hair covered Snuggie. So every time one of you adds yourself as a “follower” on the right hand side bar of my website, I feel like Jesus did every time he recruited another disciple: overall excited about my extended ability to do good in the world, but initially just shocked that I could con another sucker into buying this thing.

Therefore, I must blog more. By resolving to provide you with more thought-provoking and entertaining posts, I am increasing the chances that someone will want to advertise hand-carved, polished, stone beads on the sidebar of Three Squares blog. I can just imagine myself, hands trembling as I open my first envelope from the internet/money people. My eyes will widen, and then a sly smile will curl up on my face as I shove that $10 check in the face of my tuition bills.

2. Send myself out to play more.

There are two types of memories: ones that you remember and ones that you forget. Over the course of this past fall semester, I have forgotten most of my essay writing memories, and my tv watching memories, and my working at the gym memories. The stuff I do remember tends to be activities that were more daring, spontaneous, and just plain different than what I usually do. I remember dance parties, the photoshoot in Scott’s hats, the night we played Queens, the night me and Trevor worked on the France puzzle for like 5 hours and finished it, the one night of the semester Allyson and I did crunches, Fakesgiving, the fire out at Ian’s Bear Grylls-inspired shelter, and the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet *.

The reason I bring this up is because those nights – the ones I remember most –weren’t necessarily more fun than staying in and watching Say Yes to the Dress, but they do have a story behind them, which automatically makes them better memories. Going on an adventure -- especially if it’s freezing cold, late at night, and a little dangerous – puts you in an exclusive club. Only you and who ever you were with can claim to have done what you did, even if it seems more fun in retrospect than it really was. Our stories belong to us. And that’s what the value of a life comes down to, isn’t it? The great and terrible things we remember doing. I figure if I’m going to do something in 2010, it might as well be something I remember. That’s why I’m resolving to try new things, do old things that I know are good for me, and send myself out to play more often.

I realize my list only has two items on it, but I figure I might as well do a super job on two resolutions than do an okay job on many. If I set too many goals, I’ll probably just get overwhelmed and not start anything, anyways. Plus, it’s 2 AM and I’m getting over-heated in my Snuggie. Happy New Year to all and make it a good one.

* The World’s Tallest Filing cabinet resides in Burlington, VT. If you would like to know what it looks like, picture a rusty filing cabinet with all the drawer handles broken off in the middle of a barren field/abandoned lot. Now vertically multiply the filing cabinet by 15. That’s more or less how it is, but I encourage you to go have a look for yourself.