Late Resolutions

It is a very good thing that one of my resolutions is not to start being on time because I would have already epically, as the fellas like to say, failed!  I would be at least ten days overdue with this blog and would lack credibility on a monumental scale.  The truth is I probably would never dream of making being on time a resolution because I am not wired to succeed.  I know this in the very core of my being and I am not going to fight it.  I decided some time ago that I would try to do a better job of being on time and those very words demonstrate the lukewarm nature of my determination.  I do try; I simply do not aspire to be a leader in this area.  It is within my reach as much as being an astronaut is and I am simply not motivated by feeling either great disappointment when I am late or a rush of achievement when I am early.

I should caveat a little by explaining that certain events are inviolable.  I am never late when catching a flight, attending a wedding or a funeral, a doctor’s appointment, or a graduation ceremony.  Somehow these have carved out their own illogical category in my mind and I am not late for them.  My brain calculates and functions differently which tells me that I could be on time more than I am.  The rest of the time I am rarely drastically late.  It is usually only by a few minutes and it is because of two things.  First and foremost, I believe that I can slip in just one more thing before I leave.  In the morning that is putting in another load of laundry or feeding our plump little guinea pigs before I go and at work it is one final email before the next conference call.  Secondly, I fail to plan for certain events; I might be tracking to be on time and then I remember that we need to put out the recycling.  When joining conference calls I forget that I have to retrieve the code and dial the number before I am actually able to join the call.  It sounds so simple when I write it down and yet I make this mistake with frightening consistency.

While I may sound cavalier about my lack of expertise in this life skill, I do recognize that this really irritates some personalities.  My best friend is always punctual.  I am not sure why she puts up with me actually but thankfully she has adjusted, by which I mean she has lowered, her expectations to accommodate me.  Because I know that being late bothers some people in ways I cannot imagine I try my very hardest to be on time with them.  I could try to blame my inconsistency on being busy but I love being busy and active and I am typically a few minutes late whether I have one thing going on or twenty.  Certainly I have proven my point that I should not be resolving to be on time!

My resolutions?  I have scaled back my latte from the giant to the big because it was too much milk.  I still have my delicious daily coffee fix and the wonderful experience which comes with it when I visit my Starbucks family everyday so I cannot really convince anyone that I am depriving myself.  I am back at the gym and have been working on diversity in my workouts even though my temptation is to stick with workouts I know I can conquer.  I’ve reintroduced running and while it’s literally baby steps I’m making progress.  The big one that feels like a vote by me for me is that I have been working on some other pieces of writing as well as submitting some of my blogs to writing sites.  I’m trying to get more coverage and learn to be a better writer.  I could certainly “fail” at the first two resolutions but I don’t see how I can fail in the last.  Success may take longer or take a different direction or require re-writes but little by little I’ll get better.  Welcome 2012!