Well, I wrote my first (and only) blog post for Becoming
Elizabeth Again near about seven months ago … and then just let it slide.
Classic procrastinating Elizabeth. It’s been a month and a half since the start
of the new year—can anyone believe it’s 2013?!—and I want to make sure I am
successful in my resolutions, which I really do believe will help me Become
Elizabeth Again (the Elizabeth I want to be, as per my previous blog post).
Based on the book I’m reading (see more about it and its awesomeness below),
making your goals public really does help you achieve them, so I’m telling the
world about my plans for 2013 in the hopes that it’ll help me out!
I made six New Year’s Resolutions—probably five too many,
but I’m going to do my best to see them all through! They are:
1) Read
at least one book every month.
a. This
shouldn’t be challenging, but it has become so since I graduated from college.
I’m a little slow on this resolution—but not for lack of interest. My current
read, “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength” by Roy Baumeister
and John Tierney, is absolutely riveting! I can say with confidence that it is
among the most fascinating and helpful books I have ever read. I would
recommend it to anyone—ANYONE—regardless of how they feel about their own
reserve of willpower. It’s just a really cool book!
2) Watch
all movies I haven’t seen on the AFI Top 100 lists.
a. Between
the original list and the tenth anniversary list, there are 123 movies total,
80 of which I hadn’t seen at the start of this year. I thought I’d better make
one of my resolutions fun—and sure enough, it’s the one I’m doing best on so
far! Watching movies on the AFI lists has been easy, thanks to the great film
selection at the Boyle County Public Library. So far, I’ve knocked out six of
the movies I have to watch before year’s end. They are:
i. The
Shawshank Redemption: 4/5 stars
ii. A
Night at the Opera—worth watching to see Chico and Harpo’s musical skills!
4.5/5 stars
iii. Rear
Window: 4.5/5 stars
iv. Tootsie—sorry,
but why is this considered one of the best movies of all time? 3.5/5 stars
v. Blade
Runner—this did not have the resolution I was expecting, and not to sound
pretentious, but it would have been better if it had! 3/5 stars
vi. Dances
with Wolves—I had a hard time watching this without thinking of how it is a
perfect example of ‘Pocahontas Syndrome.’ 4/5 stars
b. I
keep a list of every movie I watch, and I have been knocking it out of the park
in terms of movie-watching this year. Here are all the other movies I’ve seen
in 2013:
i. Lawless—who
knew bootlegging could be so gory? 3/5 stars
ii. Trouble
With the Curve: 4/5 stars
iii. Dark
Shadows: 3.5/5 stars
iv. My
Week with Marilyn: 4.5/5 stars
v. The
Words—what the hell happened at the end of this movie?! 3/5 stars
vi. Looper—I
seriously want to watch this again, it was so confusing and original: 4/5 stars
vii. Beasts
of the Southern Wild—I was not as enamored with this as everyone else seems to
be: 4/5 stars
viii.
Bill Cunningham New York—SO GOOD, WATCH IT: 5/5
stars
ix. Fool’s
Gold: 3.5/5 stars
x. Arbitrage—that
ending is seriously depressing: 3.5/5 stars
xi. Total
Recall—actually pretty cool: 4/5 stars
xii. 21
Jump Street: 3/5 stars
xiii.
Warm Bodies—the only movie I’ve seen this year
in theatres: 4/5 stars
xiv. Moneyball—my
historian self cannot STAND purposeful anachronisms: 3.5/5 stars
xv. Perks
of Being a Wallflower—MUCH, MUCH better than expected: 4/5 stars
xvi. Flight—sobering.
NO REALLY. Pun very much intended. 4/5 stars
xvii.
Lockout—why is this movie not more popular? So
entertaining! Snow is Tony Stark’s equal for witty banter and personality!
4.5/5 stars
3) Complete
a writing project and submit somewhere.
a. I’ve
been really focused on one manuscript in a way I haven’t been in a long time. I’ve
actually been writing! Yay! I fully intend on devoting a good four hours a day
to this manuscript once my job ends this summer. Oh, it’s on, manuscript. It’s
on.
4) Make
exercising for at least 30 minutes part of my daily routine.
a. I’ve
really not done well on this one, and it’s probably the most important in terms
of my wellbeing. I really have to do better. I have such health anxiety, and I
know that so much of it would abate if I were in better shape. I don’t have any
confidence in my body—in fact, I ignore it as much as possible. And I don’t
like that about myself. So it’s gonna change, dammit!
5) Participate
in a service project.
a. I’ve
not done well on this front, either. I don’t want it to be arbitrary—I want it
to be something I really care about, so I’m taking my time choosing how to make
it important.
6) Be
on time!
a. I
used to be early everywhere I went, but over the last year, I’ve become
terrible at being late everywhere I go—especially to work. There are days when
I’m doing much better at this, but I’ve still got a ways to go before it
becomes habit again.
On top of my resolutions for 2013, I’m also currently doing
a Lenten Challenge as a way to kick some bad habits I’ve picked up while living
on my own this year. It’s a staggered challenge, where I add something more
difficult each week. For this first week, I’ve given up fast food, which I have
become entirely too reliant on. This first week has gone well—much better than
I expected, actually. We’ll see how much more difficult it becomes tomorrow,
when I add soft drinks on top of that. The only soft drink I have on a regular
basis is Sprite, but I drink it so much now without the ease of having a water
cooler in my apartment like we did at home. I hope I can get back into reaching
for water first without thinking about it.
The next steps in my Lenten Challenge are to give up dessert
the next week, then go gluten free the week after that, and finally, to end by
doing the Paleo diet. I’m excited to try these things, though to be honest, if
I am unsuccessful at being gluten-free or doing the Paleo diet, I don’t
consider those challenges as important as giving up fast food, soft drinks and
dessert. I think I CAN be gluten-free and do the Paleo diet, though, so I’m
going into it with the mindset that I can succeed!
Well, this blog post was exceedingly long—and probably
boring for anyone but me. But I’m going to keep up with it in the belief that
it’ll help me reach my goals! Check back next week to see what other movies
I’ve watched, how my Lenten diet is going, and whether or not I made it to work
on time. Riveting stuff—try to contain your excitement!
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