I was 14 when we last entered a new decade. Let’s think about that. It was 2009, which is crazy. I didn’t have a smart phone or much in the way of social media. I think I had a secret e-mail but that was literally so I could sign up for Tumblr. I was a freshman in high school. I had just gotten my braces off and was IN LOVE with this boy in my Earth Science class (shout out to Luke from Mr. Bantay’s class!) My biggest concern in life was which cool graphic tee I should pair with my dingey white cami and black skinny jeans. See photographic evidence below.
If you think this is all a lead up into a personal essay on how change is inevitable and that we are all eternal Works in Progress, then sorry to disappoint you. I just really wanted to post this picture of me because I LAUGHED so hard when I saw it.
What I really want to talk about is New Year’s Resolutions. There are people who, like me, LOVE to set New Year Goals. We are also the people who like blank planners and Office Supply Stores. We only start new diets/workout plans/habits on Mondays. There is something about the potential of a fresh slate that is so enticing to people like me. We COULD start getting up earlier, we COULD start working out, we COULD start eating better and saving money and writing that novel and travelling the world and doing all the things we said we were going to do! We’re starting on Monday!
But by Friday, we are back to our old ways.
Why does this happen? Why do we look back every December at a year full of goals we never reached and dreams we never realized?
Is it because time is an illusion and we are all just spinning rapidly on a blue marble suspended in space? Maybe. Or maybe it’s because we have this “one shot deal” mentality and as soon as we fall off the wagon we spend too long being upset to realize that the wagon hasn’t gone anywhere. At least, that’s how I feel.
Here’s a story. In 2015 I signed up to join a HUGE bike ride in Iowa with my future in-laws. The goal was to get from one state line to the other in 7 days. In between the two end points was a number of smaller towns which hosted cyclists overnight. In between those town were even more towns that simply provided food, drinks (a lot of drinks), and general merriment. In between THOSE towns were roadside stands selling Gatorade and sweet corn among other wares. My father in law, at the time still Mr. Alex, and I would ride to and from overnight towns, stopping often at these thru towns and side stands. Most road bikes don’t have kick stands, so when we would stop we typically laid our bikes on the grass because, as Alex said, “it can’t fall if it is already on the ground.” I think I’m a lot like that. I can’t fall if I never leave the ground. You see, a road bike on the ground has potential to ride across a whole state. But a road bike on the ground isn’t going anywhere, now is it? If you looked at this bike ride on paper, it looks daunting. It is about 460 miles from end to end, that’s roughly 66 miles a day. I feel like my resolutions start to feel that far away come February. The reality of this ride is that most towns are only 15 miles apart, some as little as 5.
What I’m getting at here is that, maybe so many of us fail at our resolutions because we are so focused on the finish line we lose site of all the food stands. Then, when we lay the bike down to rest we never want to get up again. We just sit outside of the food truck eating sweet corn until the whole thing is over. To be cliche, we forget the journey because we are just looking at the destination. Losing 35 pounds seems like a lot when you are only dropping half a pound a week. Writing your novel looks impossible when you can’t even think of an opening line.
So this year, I’m taking a new approach. Instead of thinking of my goals as huge finish lines I need to reach as soon as possible, I am rolling into 2020 ready to see the sites along the way. Will I inevitably lay my bike on the ground and have a snack? Oh yeah. Will I fall off my bike against my will because I am barreling down a hill so fast I can’t feasibly stop safely? I might. My sister in law did (that’s another story). But, like she did, I will get back on the bike. Because the road through Iowa wasn’t straight, or flat, or totally paved, and neither is the road through 2020. The only way we are going to get through this thing…is to ride it.
Catch ya later,
Jess
Jessie’s Ressies 2020
- Team Jacked 2020 with my siblings (i.e. workout/be active 4 – 6 times a week through lifting, cardio, outdoorsy stuff, and indoor climbing. Clean up diet through consumption of whole, nutritious, colorful foods. Enjoy treats as well.)
- Side Goal: Boulder 1x week until Spring when I can go 2x.
- Be purposeful in my consumption and collection of tangible items (i.e. avoid single use plastics, fast fashion merchandise, and impulse purchases as much as/whenever possible.)
- Become intentional with my time online. Avoid following accounts and people that don’t add value to my internet time. Don’t document every single time I hike somewhere or eat a pretty smoothie because sometimes you should just enjoy life yknow?
The Year of the Bear 