I was speaking with a relative at Christmas, though her comment could have been anyone's, and she said, "After December 31st, I'm going to start excercising." I challenged her why she hadn't done so with me, that morning, or, why not right then! She had her excuses, but it re-infoced my conviction to start resolutions today, now, not tomorrow.
I have resolved to lose weight, on my person, in my environment, and in my life. I have resolved to find patience, contentment, compassion, and motivation. That is what I will lose, and what I will find. Not all of my resolutions started immediately though, some have been delayed, but not for some magical calendar date, nor are the durations tied to the calendar year. Some of that has already begun, and some will take more time.
Today, I am fasting. I began fasting weeks ago, though I was somewhat unaware that that was what I was doing. It started with trimming down my closet, then moved to trimming down my rss feeds, now here I am actually trimming down my food intake. That last one is the only one going to zero, but all of them are steps of reduction. I consumed my last calorie at 4pm yesterday, December 30th, pretty much as the sun went down. I will not consume another calorie until 4 pm Sunday, January 3rd.I did wait to start this, and yes, it happens to be New Year's Eve, but that is less of an intentional delay by me, and more of a convenient correlation. New Year's Day is a holiday, and I do not have to work. I know that I will be tired, cranky and have little energy as I begin this fast; that gives me approximately 72 hrs in which I do not have to see a soul.
My caloric fast is actually only cursorily related to my weight loss goals. I recently discovered that not everyone reacts to eating carrots with an itchy mouth. I am actually using this fast as the beginnings of a food elimination re-introduction diet. So Sunday evening I will add back in pears, and some other likely non-reactive fruits, then Wednesday evening some non-reactive raw vegetables, etc. I think you get the point. I will be pleased to have the side effects of weight loss as well, but identifying the foods that may have been contributing to tendencies of anxiety, dry skin, along with others is the primary objective.
For the rest of my environment purge, it is accurate to say I tend toward cycles of excess and reduction, and this is one of reduction. Once I have purged my life of the things that hinder me, I will likely fill it all back up again, intending to do so with things I think will increase my satisfaction with my life. I suspect I will get about 20% of that right, meaning that most items in cycles of acquire-purge have about a 1-in-5 retention rate.
I am confident I will succeed, but if I fail today, tomorrow is always a new start.
