Crap. It's New Years.

Hmphf. I looked at the calendar earlier this week and realized that not only is Friday New Year’s Eve (really, how do these things slip up on me?) but that it’s the end/beginning of a decade. I felt a sense of panic as I realized a) it was Tuesday and not Monday and it’s only a 4 day work week; b) the holiday snuck up on me, giving me no time to fully work through all the gloom and doom associated with it; and c) this year calls for a double dose of gloom and doom since it’s not just a year but a decade ending/starting.
You see, the days leading up to New Year’s always instill a sense of impending doom in me as I realize:

  • More of the boxes on my yearly to-do list should be checked off. I know I can’t be the only one who feels this way or the only one scrambling to spend the rest of the 2010 FSA because I somehow kept putting off that eye exam and now it’s the last week of December and where am I going to find an optometrist with an opening on Friday?. I’m not the only one, right??? (Oh please, please tell me I’m not the only one!)
  • I should have a list of of resolutions and a plan to actually follow through on them. Keeping resolutions is kind of like keeping pesach – without some planning you either spend the week really hungry or you break down and eat a bagel. Neither are good options. So too with resolutions – it’s great to say that shedding 5lbs/mo. is a realistic goal and therefore doable but it’s not like the weight’s just going to melt away because you will it to. Nope – getting in shape, finding more time for family/friends, etc require planning! (Note to self: add ‘set resolutions and create action plan’  to aforementioned to-do list)
  • I’ve yet to figure out what I’m ‘doing’ for NYE. I know there are some people out there who love the holiday, the excuse to put on party clothes, ride in limos/taxis/trains and drink all sorts of sparkly cocktails. I’m not one of them. With few exceptions, NYE has always seemed so…anti-climatic, usually ending in getting champagne spilled on cute shoes/dresses/purses.

I told you. Gloom and doom People! It’s all reason to panic and feel really gloomy and really doomy.
Fellow TC Jewfolk writer Chris Bargeron wrote a post last year at this time on avoiding the New Year’s resolution trap. About putting aside the unrealistic resolutions and focusing instead on committing yourself to those little actions that you can put into effect right. now. Like being just a little more kind to yourself and allowing yourself the grace to be ok with the 2010 to-do list spilling over onto 2011’s (Ok, that one might just be my little commitment. You can have it too if you need it). Or crossing off the things on that list that aren’t so very important. (Who’s going to notice if my baseboards aren’t dusted by Friday anways?)
The first resolution commitment to myself this 2011? Ringing in the new year in style – good old fashion shabbat shalom style. Candles, challah, wine, comfy PJs and a book. No to-do lists, no dusting/mopping/obsessing over the gunk that gets stuck in the drip pans on the stove, no spending money on things I don’t really need just because there’s a big sale at Macy’s. None of that. G!d said rest. This year I’m going to listen. At least for one 25 hour period.
In case I don’t see you before then – Happy New Year and Shabbat Shalom.
(Photo: derekskey)