My New-Year Resolutions

So Happy New Year, and all that.

The start of 2012 means a lot of different things to different people. For me, the year ticking over means it's probably time for another blog post.

Don't get confused. This post shouldn't be misinterpreted as some kind of New Year's Resolution to start blogging more regularly. It's not. Though any rational individual might take comfort from this fact, as it means it's more likely to survive past the first twenty minutes of January.

I have made a few resolutions this year. When I started writing this blog post I had two. Now I have three. And no; 'blogging more regularly' didn't just sneak in there. Incidentally, I was also going to include 'Be Optimistic' on my list, but excluded it after I decided that was probably too optimistic.

My first resolution... Hang on I forgot. No, that's right. My first resolution is to

Read my Bible every day.


Even if it's just a chapter. Or a bit of a chapter. Or a portion of a bit of a chapter. The point is, I need to make more of an effort. Even if the resolution fails to reach optimum potency and I manage once a week, that'll still be an improvement on this past year, and I'm glad to report that at Luke Chapter 5, so far so good. I decided to start with Luke's Gospel as a refresher course on the God-man Jesus - His life, His teaching and the amazing thing He did for us on the cross at Calvary. The centre of the Christian faith (and my relationship with God) begins with Jesus, so my resolution probably should, too.

Resolution number two is to

Stop being so self-deprecating


I've always been my harshest critic, but rather than leading to self-improvement, it drives me to despair. Rather than being inspired by people who are better than me, my gut reaction is one of 'What's the point? Leave it to them.' And I give up. Not quite the ANZAC Spirit famed in Australian History. So I hope to change this, and let inspiration fuel me rather than cut me down. The truth is, there will always be people around you who are stronger, faster, smarter, more-talented, funnier, Godlier, charismatic and better-looking than you are (I'm stopping this endless list here as it's starting to get depressing), so if that gets you down, you're going to be disappointed for the long haul.

Finally, resolution number three is to

Get healthy healthier

Yes, I know this is frightfully generic and cliche, but I'm a pretty generic kind of guy. I managed to start some gym action late last year, which in turn made me feel guilty about what I was eating (let's face it: guilt is one HELL of a motivator). Continuing gym on my new budget may be a little tricky, so I'm going to adjust my plans a little. Food-wise, the goal is portion control, and since I'll be living in the Halls of Residence at Moore College this year, I'm expecting the incentive to be baked into the food. Exercise-wise, 30 minutes a day of SOMEthing that's not sitting around on my butt, grazing. (I may come from cattle-country, but the similarities have to stop somewhere.) If there are any other Moore students who might happen to be reading this, looking for an exercise-buddy, I'll motiviate you if you help motivate me (use of cattle-prods permissible only in extreme circumstances).

So that's the plan. 2012 is the start of a whole new life for me, so hopefully some (long-overdue) positive changes in areas of health, self-perception and God-life will be well-received, and make it through to 2013.

Or at least into February.