3 Reasons Resolutions Can Bite Me

Hello, dear friends!

Happy New Year!

Okay, I have to confess, I love to plan. I’m a List Maker. I make out with bullet journals in public. My washi tape stash could probably stretch from Oakland to New York, and I’m unfaithful to every planner I’ve ever bought (Shiny New Planner syndrome).

I normally start brand-new years with the confidence of a toddler in a bead shop. And I end old years sitting in a deck chair, wondering why the ocean is up to my ankles and rising. My washi tape can’t save me then, unless I make a boat out of it and Post-its (which would make a good reality TV challenge, I think).

Resolutions can bite me for these three reasons:

1. I’m not in my right mind when I make them.

Seriously. The last week of December acts on my brain like alcohol used to. I CAN DO EVERYTHING! I spin around in the front yard, almost able to touch the moon. I CAN WRITE THREE BOOKS BY TUESDAY. Every year, I get drunk with the power of potential, and it goes right to my head, making me think that when the calendar rolls over, I’ll be a new me. Truth is: I’ll just still be me, but maybe a little more tired because I’m a few days older.

2. Everyone else does them better.

Have you been on Instagram lately (you should follow me there!). All those people you used to like have already lost ten pound plus they’ve increased their bank accounts by six or seven figures. AND IT’S ONLY THE FOURTH. We hate them.

3. I always pick the wrong things to resolve.

Things I said yesterday (gospel truth): “I will get up every day at 7:30 am, even on weekends.” Also: “I will write every day, even on weekends.” ALSO! “I will do yoga every day, even on weekends.” (From this you might think that I’m a lazy slob on the weekends. You would be right.)

These are the wrong things to focus on! I will fail at these resolutions! Sometimes I will get up at 4:30 am! Other times I will sleep till 10. I never write every day – I never have and I never will, no matter how much I want to be that person. I love yoga, but sometimes this softly-rounded body just wants some caramel corn and a nap.

So, as I’ve done a few years in the past, I’m resolving to stab absolutely no one. Chances are good I’ll succeed (BUT YOU NEVER KNOW).

But seriously, all I resolve to do this year is to just focus on giving myself and those around me some grace. I’m already doing the best I can. So are you (even if you feel like you’re not. You feel that way for a reason, whether it’s your kids or your schedule or your mental/physical health. That’s keeping you from doing all you want to do, but you’re still doing your goshdarn best and you should be proud of yourself).

Give yourself some grace. Some forgiveness. Some real, true love. You deserve it.

That’s the best resolution of all, and it isn’t new for 2020. (Y’all, I just started typing 19__ – that’s how far behind my typist fingers are.) If you can be just a tiny bit kinder to yourself this year, that will spread to the people around you. And that can change the world, I just know it.

Thanks for being here with me on this crazy ride through life. I appreciate you.

What are YOU going to do differently when it comes to being kind to yourself this year?

love,

Rachael

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Praise from a past graduate who finished both her first book AND revisions: “Thanks to Rachael’s classes, I’m realizing my strengths as a writer, and learning how to use them instead of being mean to myself about my weaknesses and trying to force myself to be different.” -Sara

Grab your spot now – these seats sell out quickly!

PPS – Need a good movie rec? Little Women knocked off my hand-knitted socks. My feet are still cold. I loved loved loved it and can’t recommend it enough. Go see it, in theaters now! I ugly cried!