Sunday, January 04, 2009

Because I Apparently Can't Count To 9

I just noticed that my grand scheme for 9 In '09 only has 8 list items. Why yes, I do have trouble with basic skills like counting. Hopefully the nice doctors I will visit with my health insurance card in hand will notice my muzzyheadedness could be due to a wonky thyroid and give me some drugs. I'm not holding out hope--the compelling evidence of ridged fingernails and 2 first degree relatives with bad thyroids battles the medical notion that everyone with excess weight wants to blame their thyroid and get drugs, and I dislike having to be bitchy to get what I need. No really, I am not nearly as filled with bravado in real life.

But anyway, the missing item is 9) Use Wells Fargo's BillPay as it's free and all that. Yes, I still write checks for nearly everything. Stamps are getting expensive, and as a lot of my financial strategy is "Empty the account by paying for necessities as soon as the cash is available" this seems a sensible move instead of playing the check clearing waiting game.

I'm having problems with the notion of resolutions--I don't like being pushed into some sort b&w, good v. failure paradigm, and I also don't like the way resolutions seem to also always be about changing who you are. I could put "Be Less Isolationist," "Get A Boyfriend," "Lose Weight," "Fix My Finances" on a list, but that stuff is either a) not fully under my control or b) not so much something that could be resolved, but a way of life. And honestly, the projects list assists in those--I get out of the house, I do well, I get engaged in the world, I get more comfortable.

3 comments:

drwende said...

There are huge advantages to sticking to Projects over Personal Change...

Projects are typically concrete, with measurable goals. You know if you've taken a math class or not, AND...

Projects are about doing, not about feeling. Actions can be scheduled; feelings can't. A good math class happens whether you like it or not, whereas if a boyfriend happens whether you like him or not, you can end up creating more problems than you solve.

If you can't control it fully, measure it, and do it regardless of mood, it's not a Project. So "eat 3 servings of fruit/veg a day" is a Project, but "lose weight" isn't.

drwende said...

(And that's not a suggestion -- you eat a healthier diet than I do.)

Kerry said...

I don't know how you got that impression!