I’ve never been the kind of person to make New Year’s
resolutions. I never really saw the point in them, because the majority of them
are always broken, many in the very first month of the New Year.
However, these last few months or more have shown me that I
could really use some changes in my life to better my quality of life and just
have all-around more fun in life. So, I think 2014 is a good year to finally come
up with some New Year’s resolutions, many of which I need to work my damndest
on trying to follow through with and not break. One resolution really should be
to stick with these resolutions, even if it’s hard or not necessarily something
I want to do. My lack of will power in the past has been one of my major
weaknesses in life. Sticking to these resolutions could be one of the hardest
things I attempt to do.
1.
Figure Out My Health Issues
This is something that I actually got a head start on by
going to the doctor on Monday. Ever since I ended up in the emergency room in
September with severe hypertension I’ve been dealing with terrible headaches on
almost a daily basis. I think that these headaches have to do with a myriad of
things: stress, lack of sleep (or quality sleep), possibly blood pressure, etc.
I wanted to try out a new doctor to see if I could cut down on these issues. I’ve
been prescribed with a new blood pressure medication and headache medication to
try to cut down on these headaches, which have really made my life at least
partially miserable for three full months. Another thing that’s possibly led to
my health issues is the fact that I may have sleep apnea. My girlfriend,
Aprille, believes that I do because she claims that I gasp for air or even stop
breathing occasionally in my sleep. I believe I might, because it seems I’m
constantly tired these days (although a lot of that is my fault, as I never
seem to be able to go to bed at a time when I should) and I now have major bags
under my eyes, which I’d previously never had. I’m getting a sleep apnea test
scheduled to see if I have it, so it can be treated. I’m frankly dreading this
sleep apnea test, but sometimes you have to do stuff that’s for the best for
you, even if you really don’t want too (something I’ve always had a hard time
realizing or going through with).
2.
Exercise
Ever since I ended up in the E.R. with that
hypertension I’ve been exercising off and on (which I simply never did
beforehand). Working out is something that I just do not like doing, so I’m
going to need to be hard on myself with this. I have a great opportunity to
work out, as my apartment complex has a free and rather extensive workout facility;
it’s just forcing me to use it that’s the problem. I need to make sure in 2014
that I work out on average four days a week. It honestly should probably be
every day of the week, but I’m being more reasonable here by setting the four
day a week goal. I also need to try to push myself a little bit harder in these
workouts to really do any good. Sometimes I’ll just go to the gym, walk a mile
(which typically takes 20 minutes for me) on a treadmill and go home. This is
surely better than nothing, but ultimately isn’t helping out all that much. I
probably should have a weight loss goal in mind, but I really don’t. Maybe it’s
not best to focus on how much to lose anyway and just try to do the best I can.
3.
Sodas
Also, since I visited the E.R. I’ve tried to completely cut
sodas, my greatest addiction in life, out of my life. I haven’t been 100
percent successful, although for a few weeks there I was, but I’ve definitely
cut the number of sodas and the type of sodas (switching to Coke Zero or Diet
Coke over regular Coke). I need to do a better job, though, at completely
cutting sodas out of my life altogether, but it’s incredibly hard for me to
completely eliminate something I’m so addicted too. It especially doesn’t help
when I work less than 10 feet from a soda fountain five days a week. If only
water tasted good.
4.
Diet
My diet is also one of the things in my life that has
improved some since my E.R. visit, but like exercise and sodas is not something
that I’ve gone far enough in improving to do a whole lot of help. I’ve started
to eat more healthy foods, but I occasionally will still over do it. I
especially need to cut out the binge eating that I frequently do late at night
when I’m bored.
5.
Better Use of My Off-Days/Time Management
A good way to not get burnt out at work or
feel that my time is not being used well (which seems to be a constant thought
of mine) would be to better spend my off days. I find that many times on my
days off of work I feel that I’ve simply wasted the day away or even that I
might as well should have worked. These
off days would be better spent by doing a number of things such as catching up
on my writing/website work more often or simply by doing more relaxing things
like catching up on DVR’d television shows or watching movies. Or maybe by
going out and doing fun things with my girlfriend or friends. This is
truthfully one of my least worries of all the things going on in my life, but sometimes
the small things tend to build up. I find that I spend a lot of my off days wasting
time on the internet or social media sites. I believe that simply doing other
things like watching movies or writing would make me feel better than
listlessly staring at a screen.
6.
Relax
This kind of goes along somewhat with the previous
resolution … I need to relax a lot more in life. There are many ways I need to
do this. I need to do it by not wasting so much time in my life and I need to
do it by not making such a big deal out of certain things (this will be
incredibly hard for me). My stress level would probably be reduced quite a bit
simply by not reacting so harshly or negatively to certain things that the
average person would likely just blow off. (Again, this won’t be easy for me.)
7.
Watch More Movies
This probably goes along with ‘relax’. I’m a huge movie
buff, but honestly I don’t watch that many movies. In fact, I might be the
biggest movie buff in the country who actually watches the fewest movies. Just
laying down on the couch or bed and enjoying a film for 90 minutes to two hours
would probably be a really good way to focus on number six.
8.
Writing
This is one that honestly likely
contradicts some of these other resolutions like relax. One of my biggest
stressors in life is the fact that I don’t feel like I write or work on my
entertaining website nearly enough, despite the fact that I spend quite a bit
of time on it. I need to find more time to write more, especially write fiction
(which I’ve sorely been lacking since I graduated from college). Setting aside
time during the day or throughout the week might be beneficial as far as this goes.
I’d say going as far as designating certain days to write non-fiction (website,
blog, etc) and fiction (short story, etc.) would be a good way to go about
this, but honestly my entertainment website is something that’s supposed to be
a 24/7, 365 day a year type site. This will be hard to accomplish given all of
my time constraints, but I know writing more would make me feel more
productive.
