Resolutions, Schmesolutions... (I'm Totally Making That A Word)

Minutes before the clock struck midnight, leading into the new year, my friend asked me if I had any resolutions. I laughed a little bit and told him I don't make resolutions. I didn't give my detailed explanation as to why, because I would have finished at midnight... or if I had cut it short, a couple of seconds. I asked him his, and like a psychic, I knew he was going to say "work out more." Granted, my friend is pretty fit from what I can see... not that I check out my friend or anything... but it doesn't look like there's fat on him. Anyways, he explained that because of grad school, he hadn't had the time to prioritize for a good workout. I can respect his desire to get back to what he's use to, because I know he likes to workout, unlike me, who can't go to a gym not named Average Joe's and not owned by Peter LaFleur, fearing to bump into the White Goodmans, Blaze, Lazer, and Blazers of the world.

(Image taken online, but originally from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

No copyright infringement intended.)

Millions of Americans, who through good intentions, declare "working out" and "losing weight" their resolution when it's not something they really like to do. While I admire that, it's really hard to stick with that lifestyle... and most make the mistake of going head on into it, starting out strong and fizzling earlier than they should when they need to ease into it, gradually change certain things, and moderate the workout. Plus, this whole "resolution" to lose weight is a fucking six billion dollar industry... I saw a news report on it... and they capitalize on those people... which is why you'll always see more gym ads, more weight loss shake ads, more exercise shit on TV at this time. And I wouldn't be surprised if two months from now, the snack food ads start popping up more, which is probably owned by the people in the gym, weight loss shake, and exercise equipment industry, creating this vicious cycle to profit off the masses... hoping people quit the gyms early so that they profit off the year-long memberships that people were suckered into signing up for in their blood.

I'll step away from my probably-true conspiracy theory... for now.

Anyways, I rarely make resolutions, not because I don't want to change anything about myself... because I know I'm not perfect... but because I don't want to have to make a declaration about it and stick to it. I all ready fucked up several times on declarations like going back to school for my Masters. (Yeah yeah I'm still working on it... well... I'm still trying to gather the willpower to go through the process and extra willpower to go through more years of online education... ewwww...) and I don't like going against my word, especially if it's well intentioned. I can go against my word if I know I made a mistake and was wrong about something... that's fine... but something like that is something different. If I want to make a change about myself, I keep it to myself, gradually work it in, and don't go all gung ho about it. That's the best-case scenario for me.

But with that said, when I got home that night, I realized I received more books than I can remember for both Christmas and my birthday. So if I was going to make a resolution, it might as well be "to read more." At this point in my life, it's more about something I want to do since I think it'll help me with my writing. I'm not going to give myself a minimum requirement of books to finish at a certain point in time because that kind of shit will make it a chore rather than something I do for pleasure. But I think in time, I'll enjoy reading more than I do now... and I have the Hunger Games to thank for that... hey, inspiration comes from different places, so don't judge.

And if I had to change another thing about me, not that I'm making this resolution or anything, but if anything, I'd probably do my best to get all my hang-ups about long-distance relationships out of the way so that I can give it the best chance I can give it.