Happy New Year, Six Days In

Happy 2009! While I suffer from the year's inaugural head cold, which felt the need to arrive, uninvited, on New Year's Day, I have recalled a few of my brighter points from last year.

After watching the movie "Hancock," wherein Will Smith eats these fabulous-looking meatballs, I felt inspired to make homemade meatballs myself. This might not be monumentous, but I am really not much of a cook. By summertime, and that popcorn flick, I'd already sat through an entire season of "Top Chef" which had started the inspiration, and marveled at the animated culinary skills in "Ratatouille." Those meatballs pushed me over the edge and now, I tend to step into the kitchen more regularly and actually like it. Who knew?

Even though I certainly was no less lazy, I managed to make my peace with this character trait last year. After the umpteenth time I put off a work project to the last possible minute, I realized something: I'll never be a real go-getter. It's possible I may not find my true calling or establish goals. This used to easily depress me. But, I accept this now and will simply be content to work around it. That's what I've done anyway, if you think about it, except I've just concurrently beat myself up. Now, I'll procrastinate without the familiar beratement and emerge in the same place as before, but without the feeling-bad-about-myself. Who knew?

About a month ago, when I decorated my tree and put up all my Christmas decorations, I did so in a different order from other years. At one point, this probably could not have happened, due to my incessant internal demand that things be done in the same way, all the time, to establish consistency and control. After I realized I broke my own rules, with no consequences and no sense of guilt, it has opened up a whole new world of possibilities. I've already tried it out in some other areas of my life. Of course, something like this necessitates baby steps, so it won't alway be perfect.

But, it's a start. Who knew?