Resolving Not To

I used to make the same New Year's resolutions every year: to lose weight and not say mean things about people. Then I stopped making them, because it seemed silly to make the same resolutions, and because I no longer particularly wanted to lose weight, and because trying not to say mean things about people has become part of my regular life practice (emphasis on trying). Then for a while I didn't make New Year's resolutions.

This year I surprised myself by making two resolutions: not to get on a scale for a year, and not to buy anything for a month.

I haven't owned a scale in maybe 15 years, and that's been good. But it does mean that whenever I encounter a scale, I get on it. Which has led to my parroting kids getting on every scale they see--though for them the impetus, I think, is somewhat different, in that we never know how much they weigh, except for the day they go to the pediatrician, so it is a matter of curiosity, not concern, but they are American females heading for adolescence, so I'm not so thrilled with this habit in any of us.

The main place I get on the scale is the gym, and if I'm going to the gym a lot, I get on the scale a lot, and I get distressed if the number stays the same (because, after all, I'm going to the gym a lot), and I get distressed if the number is above a certain point, even if I feel fine, and I'd rather not get distressed about numbers. Hence the resolution not to get on a scale for a year.

I did a lot of shopping in December. There were boatloads of gifts (two birthdays and the endless extravaganza of Hanukkah), and then for some reason I decided it was time to deal with some shopping that really needed to be dealt with: like lamps for the living room so that we would no longer live in a cave, and socks, and such. In the first week of January, as I walked out of Target for the second time in a week, I was suddenly totally sick of shopping. So I decided I just wouldn't. Nothing but necessities: groceries, soap, etc.

So far I've kept my resolutions, except that I did buy a music stand on-line, because with three musicians in the family now (E is taking guitar lessons), I was getting a little sick of the music everywhere, and the chairs being lugged around the living room, and music being propped on the chairs, and the chairs abandoned where they were holding the music, even when the music is long gone. So I think we can call that something of a necessity.

E does keep saying, whenever I say I am not going to buy something, that it was my decision, so I can change it, but I don't want to. The other day I walked by a clothing store that I always think I should like but don't so much once I get in there. It's going out of business and having a sale. I almost went in, but then I remembered that I'm not buying anything, so I saved myself spending money I don't need to spend on clothes I don't need, and probably wouldn't end up liking.

Maybe I'll become a zealot and write a book. Oh yeah, that's been done (actually, that is the kind of book I have no interest in reading, plus my sister says it's not very good). Or maybe I'll just wait till February 1, and then go buy some new tights.