Blog!ARU: Archive

Until recently I thought that new year's resolutions were:

• A bit of a gimmick
• Only for the weak willed looking for an excuse to change their ways
• Popular with people that believe horoscopes

OK, so I didn't think the last one, but I find myself gritting my teeth to think that I'm going to compile a list for myself for 2003. Hmmn, yes, I am. Looking back at 2002, I achieved at least one difficult thing, maybe two:

• I got a job and broke the "catch 22" situation that comes just after graduation that is "can't get a job without experience, can't get experience without a job"
• I finally had the means to move out from my parents home

Now these things have been accomplished I need to work out what I need to do to progress in several areas. In no particular order these are things I'd like to accomplish in 2003 (it's not a complete list - it wouldn't be prudent to make it so ...)

• Complete my driving lessons and acquire a small, economical, car. This will allow me to become truly mobile for the first time - go where I want when I want.
• Get a better flat - one with windows above ground level, so that I can get some proper daylight and see the sky at night, also so I can leave a window open at night - I hate having to keep my windows shut because I live in a basement. I find it hard to believe that the previous occupant of this flat stayed here for 7 years - lack of imagination or what?
• Make my bank account black, rather than red - it's going to take until the end of next year on my current wages.
• Increase my income, significantly.
• Have at least 2 decent holidays. Holidays aren't something I've had many of, infact if you consider a holiday to be a trip somewhere where you stay over for at least one night, then I've had 2 holidays in the last 15 years. One was last year in France, the other when I was about 9 years old and in Scarborough. So, next year I have the already planned prospect of a cycling holiday in Norway and I'll have to think of what I'm going to do for the second, and with whom.
• Join some clubs to meet people. I might join The Ramblers, I might take up canoeing and find a local club (Rob F - how did you know about this??), I might join a cycling club.
• Acquire a wardrobe, in the "collection of clothes" sense, not a very large wooden box.
• Go to more (some) social occasions
• Work to live, not vice versa. Finish work when I leave work, don't take it home, don't even think about it, especially not at weekends.

I'll keep you posted, quite literally. As a follow-up, what are your resolutions?