2012 Resolutions Round-Up

I’m not sure how it all of a sudden became December 27th, but, well, here we all are, savoring the last days of our holiday break (and 2012), dreading New Year’s Eve (although as of about an hour ago, my plans are finalized and I’m actually looking forward to the night), and scrambling to figure out what our resolutions are for 2013. I know that I’m ready for 2013 to be an incredible year, but before I can start on that, it’s worth looking back on 2012 to reflect on how I did on my resolutions for this year.

(via sf.funcheap.com)

Spoiler alert: I didn’t accomplish all of them, by a long shot. But that’s okay. I’m definitely way too lazy to do an intense reflection on the year, but I know it was a good one. I demolished my half-marathon PR. I didn’t run a marathon, but I trained for one and did things I thought I could never do. I discovered Flywheel and re-discovered yoga. I made new friends. I grew by leaps and bounds at my job. I traveled to Germany. I moved into a new apartment and have now had the essential experience of living on my own (and love it). As I said, a good year.

But, onto resolutions!

BODY FITNESS 

• Run a full marathon. Not so much. But I’m very much okay with this. Another spoiler alert: a post is coming on why I’m not sure full marathons are for me. Which I am working on being very much okay with.
  
• Be able to do 10+ push-ups. Nope. Not even when I was at my strongest while working with Mike. But I DO think I’ve gotten stronger overall.
• Break 2:05 in a half-marathon. HUZZAH! Done! I will never get tired of being excited about this.
• Lose 10 pounds. I have no idea what I weighed on 1/1/2012, so who knows. But I do think I’m happier with my body than I’ve ever been (the requisite recent holiday sugar binge notwithstanding. Blargh).
• Drink more water. I think I have definitely done this. Hooray for hydration!

BRAIN FITNESS

• Buy a subscription to, and read, the Economist. I definitely bought a subscription. For a while, I was reading it a lot. Then I sort of stopped reading it because of all the books I was reading (see below). It’s interesting and I love feeling so informed because of it, but it comes TOO DAMN OFTEN. And I like books better. I think I’m canceling my subscription for 2013.
  
• Read at least 12 books. I am in the middle of my 11th, which I’m confident I’ll finish before 12/31. Will I squeeze in a 12th? Not sure. But no matter what, I’m still really satisfied with my 11. I read some great and very long books, and all of them made me think, and I enjoyed all of them for various reasons. Here’s what I read this year, in case you need recommendations, because they’re all fantastic:

I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution (Rob Tannenbaum & Craig Marks)

Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired–and Secretive–Company Really Works (Adam Lashinsky)

Blindness (Jose Saramago)

The Passage (Justin Cronin)

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns (Mindy Kaling)

The Plot Against America (Philip Roth)

The Twelve (Justin Cronin)

The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran (Dirk Hayhurst)

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don’t (Nate Silver)

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (Katherine Boo) — currently reading

BLOG STUFF

• Re-focus. Not sure how well I did this. Marathon training kind of took over my entire life, and therefore this blog. Oh well.
  
• Comment/reply more. Big fat WIN. In fact, many of the new friends mentioned above have been through Twitter/this blog. Judge all you want, but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

OTHER STUFF

• Make one new recipe a month. Eh. I did this in January, February, May, June, and November. Oops. But I am cooking more, even if it’s not from actual recipes.
  
• Gossip/snark less. Hahahahahahahaha. Ugh. Sorry, world.

So, there we go. Could have been better, but I think in a lot of ways, I’ve succeeded in achieving the spirit of these resolutions (minus that last one) even if I didn’t achieve the resolution itself. So goodbye, 2012 (soon), it’s been a great year, but hello 2013!