A New Year, a New Plan

      Like most everyone else, the end of a year/beginning of another is marked by celebration and a laundry list of resolutions.  I stopped making resolutions years ago, but have made a list of goals instead.  Resolutions are promises that for all the good intentions, are meant to be broken.  Goals, however, are a motivating factor in keeping up with changes throughout the entire year.  In the last few years, I've returned to school, earned 2 degrees (working on a 3rd now), began to read more, curse less, and take things a day at a time.  It's not a secret that 2011 was a pretty tough year.  The beginning of 2012 looks to be the same for a little bit.  A few family members need surgery and things are going to be tough for awhile.  I'm prepared for that. 
     This year comes a new set of goals.  The biggest is learning different ways in which to manage stress.  While I cannot control other peoples' actions, it's up to me how to react to that.  If it means cutting a few ties (which for the most part, I already have with a few) people, than that's one step I can take.  I don't need to surround myself with people who cause nothing but stress, pain, and anger.  As hard at it's going to be, I'm also going to try to take at least a half hour a day to myself just to clear my head.   This excludes showers, driving, or other necessary actions. 
       Healthwise, I'm at a weight now I never thought I'd see again.  Between stress, medication,  and injury, I've put on more than just a few pounds.  I can't promise myself that I will return to where I was a few years ago, but I plan on making small changes to help get there.  I know I'm going to wake up in pain everyday, some days far worse than others, but I will at least try to do something on even the worst of days.  I know what foods and drinks cause flares and that's easy enough to control.  I can't, however, control the weather.  As each year passes, I become a better barometer and it just plain sucks, but I know there's nothing I can do about it.  The main goal by the end of 2012 is to quit smoking for good.  I figure that as I learn new and different ways to control my stress, cigarettes will be a bit easier to give up, since that is one of the bigger reasons for continuing to smoke. 
       It might not be much, but it's a start.  And even a small start is better than nothing at all.  By the end of this year, I should be one semester away from my Bachelor's degree, be in better shape than I ended 2011, be smoke free, and be ready to set a new set of goals for improvement for next year.