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Margaret Ann Silver's avatar

New Year’s unresolutions

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Learn a new skill: I probably won’t. Not out of a desire to flout someone else’s dream, but because I have a hard time reading the directions for a new board game. My sixteen-year-old had to step in as a ringer for “Dixit” yesterday because I couldn’t understand how to play, even while reading the instructions.

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Practice mindful eating: Sometimes when I’m really hungry, I eat so fast that I bite the inside of my cheek and it swells up, so that I keep biting it over and over again for a few days. I’d like to avoid that, but I’m not sure that’s what mindful eating is. I’m not trying to make fun; I just don’t think I will learn how to do it. Maybe I should?

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Keep a journal: I won’t. I’m not anti-journal. But I kept a journal for years and years and years, since I was a little kid into adulthood, and then slowly I didn’t want to anymore. I’d love to be able to forgive myself for not being a journaling person anymore. Let myself off the hook.

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Weight loss: I would like to be healthier. But I’m finding that no matter how I exercise, I don’t seem to lose weight at this point in my life. And I’m so tired of trying.

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Smoking cessation: I already don’t smoke. Nailed it!

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Nelly Bryce's avatar

I already don’t smoke 🤣. I love the idea of setting yourself resolutions that you already don’t do!!!

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Margaret Ann Silver's avatar

😁 I have to admit, I giggled while I wrote that one 😁.

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Martin Hughes's avatar

Resolutions

--

I resolve

not to care

about what I need to do

in arbitrary timescales.

-

If my time

comes along

on the first day of NEW YEAR,

let it be thankful for fluke—

-

if it needs

my resolve,

which I'm not sure that it does.

That's fine. The feeling's mutual.

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Nelly Bryce's avatar

Gave me a lovely little chuckle this one xx

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Jenny Preston-Griffiths's avatar

Oh my goodness I didn't get a chocolate orange! How did I not get a chocolate orange???

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Nelly Bryce's avatar

Unbelievable. Although u can get them year round almost now. I hear.

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Tamsin 🍂's avatar

How? Just how? Do you have chocolate orange left?!

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Shondra Bowie's avatar

It's unnatural!

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Tamsin 🍂's avatar

Completely 😮

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Nelly Bryce's avatar

It was my fourth one 👀. The job is now done

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Lisa O'Hare's avatar

I related to the description of cocooning. It's not postcard picture stuff but my goodness I have enjoyed doing a lot less, particularly since Christmas.

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Nelly Bryce's avatar

It’s such a relief isn’t it.

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Lisa O'Hare's avatar

And yes, still playing! Great prompt.

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Fee Hutch Ad-libs's avatar

I wrote a little bit about this a few days ago but we have a tradition of writing hopes for the year on New Years Eve and I keep them safe and the next December 31st we read them and write some new ones. We just tonight decided that there is no reason we can’t add more to it through the year because hopes all year round 😊

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Nelly Bryce's avatar

Mmm nice. I like this. And hope is so much gentler than resolution with all that loftiness

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LeeAnn Pickrell's avatar

I love this idea and your poem. You describe my week between Christmas and New Year’s perfectly, minus the kids. There was a lovely sense of comfort cocooning.

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LeeAnn Pickrell's avatar

I love this:

I smile, sip my expresso, and decide

to excel at procrastinating excellence,

marking this moment as the first day

of another year of being beautifully,

imperfectly, stubbornly human.

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Jan 11
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Nelly Bryce's avatar

Yeah you did. And your name coming up made me smile btw. Xxx

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