My non-New Year's resolutions
By Jane Han
DALLAS ― Ah, January again.
We all know what this means. New Year’s resolutions are everywhere.
I’m not a resolutions kind of person, and thank goodness, because having three children under five is not a good place for goals. Not even ambitious goals, but just goals.
I was not like this earlier in my life, the pre-child birth era. I, too, used to get jazzed in January, set _ and accomplish _ all kinds of impressive resolutions from eating better, working out daily and reading more to pretty much every other popular goal you can think of.
Not only because I was single with fewer responsibilities, but I also find health and beauty related achievements easier in Korea.
In Korea, I am considered weight-challenged. It is sad but true.
Here, I am considered fashionably fit.
Believe it or not, general perception plays a big impact in the weight and workout department. So let’s just say there is comparably less pressure to invest time and money in visual appearance here.
This does not mean I am not going to spend time improving myself _ I am simply not going to define it as a goal set specifically for 2018.
I have many other goals that I choose not to limit to 2018.
I am always thinking about, planning and refining changes I need to make in my crazy life with three preschoolers, but I do not call the changes New Year’s resolutions because I do not need a date to start them.
With the current life I have, I figured I am only setting myself up for failure by establishing some grand life-altering ambition that must begin in January.
So here is my short list of non-New Year’s resolutions that I will hopefully begin, oh, sometime in the next year.
1. Put down the phone. Being around three little humans day in and day out is hard. And I do want to know what is happening outside of my world ruled by Cinderella and Rapunzel. But I know I should stop myself from being ``absent present’’ when I am around my children. The dilemma is real. So I am not going to aim for anything close to impossible. My plan is to give 30-minute chunks of uninterrupted attention to my children throughout the day.
2. Explore more. I live in Texas, which is almost seven times larger than South Korea. Let that sink in for a minute. Texas is huge and I have lived in Dallas for three years so far, but I left the city just once. Why? The thought of a long-distance road trip just did not excite me one bit. But I now realize that I need to get out more and experience what this Lone Star state is all about. So first up is San Antonio. Yee-haw.
3. Start writing again. I love writing, but I have sort of slipped away from it while being a full-time stay-at-home mom. Now that the children are in preschool a few days a week, I am going to shoot for investing in some me-time, which includes writing for work and fun. There is a lot to be written.
4. Yell less. This is something I have become very good at in recent years. I have even mastered the art of ``silent yelling’’ where I am out in public and one of my children acts up, and I use this new skill. It involves exaggerated mouth movements without making any sound. The children get it right away. It is pretty magical. But regardless, I really want to start becoming an all-around more patient individual and yell less, both with and without sound.
So that was my humble list of non-resolutions. I invite you to write about your plans in the comments below.