Reviewing 2011 and Resolutions for 2012

Wow- where did 2011 go?  It’s actually over-it’s done!!!  This has been such a tough, tough year.  I can’t say I will be sad to see it go, to be brutally honest.  This has been a year of some ups, but lots of downs.  For example, we went on a couple of fabulous vacations to Oregon/Washington and to the Dominican Republic, but life in Erie has been very tough.  It’s been a year of giving and taking.  I think I may have mentioned the stark lack of balance in my life this past year.  I feel like I’m being thrown from one extreme to the other.  Let me explain: when my personal/home life was good, something terrible was happening at work.  When my work life was going the right direction, something in my personal life would crash down around me.  I just never got it together this year.  For example, we got a free trip to the Dominican from work, and arrived back in the USA to get the news, only a few days later, of my Grandpa’s impending death, followed shortly by my Grandmother’s death.  I would have a fight with the hubby, only to have several compliments at work about a job well done.  I had many days of backstabbing and yelling from co-workers, to then go home and have a fabulous walk with the hubby at Presque Isle.  Yes, we went to Oregon and Washington, but we ran out of money half way through our trip!  See what I mean?  Total lack of balance.  Emotional roller-coaster.

It was a year of hard, hard lessons.  On the bright side, we have learned a lot this year.  But who’s looking at the bright side??  It was awful!!  We learned how it felt to get turned down from a job you want, when Chris didn’t get the residency program he’d actually been promised, and that was revealed to us on Valentine’s Day!   (That said, we learned that his current job seems to be better for him in the long run anyhow.)  I learned many, many times over how awful it feels to get stabbed in the back by your co-workers, as I learned in an especially brutally manner over Valentine’s weekend.  Needless to say, our first Valentine’s weekend was ruined by all the career-related disasters going on that weekend!  (But over the course of the last several months, I’ve realized it doesn’t matter what people say about you- you know what’s right in your heart.)  We learned what not having enough money to cover the bills is like (when it was just my paycheck).  (It sucks.  A lot.  There were so many things we couldn’t have, just because we didn’t have money!)  We learned what it was like to have our first terrible “married people” argument.  And a whole lotta family drama (on both sides) in between.  Like I said: tough, tough lessons.

The career-related lessons from 2011:
-Trust no one about a the promise of a job until that contract is signed.
-Trust always that God knows best and his plans are better than our own.
-Just because someone says something about you, doesn’t make it true.  Even if that someone is your boss.
-Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the world comes for free.
-Honesty is more important than popularity (No more doormat, just so people like me.  I have to like me!)
-It is so so important to keep my relationship with my co-workers strictly professional.  That way, it doesn’t wreck my day when one of them does something crappy to me.  And I will be able to sleep at night, even if one of them is rude to me.
-Work will always want my time, but it comes at the expense of my personal time (which is much more precious).

I am proud I realized in 2011:
-I learned I am a truly valuable member of my residency (that one took all year!)
-I learned I am worth a (little) spoiling every now and then (but it will probably always be on sale or some kind of groupon, that’s just how I roll).
-Growing your own vegetables connects you to the earth.  I now recycle, buy organic and local, and use only eco-friendly health and beauty aids! 
-It doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t like me.
-Save my efforts and time for the people who deserve them, not the ones who don’t.  In this way, I’ve focused on growing the positive relationships in my life and weeding out the bad ones.
-It is so important to get rid of those toxic friends, no matter how much I loved them.  They were terrible for me.

I am proud I accomplished in 2011:
-I kept my new year’s resolution last year: I stayed on the Sonoma Diet (or a version thereof) for one whole year!
-I canned blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, and peach jam, salsa, pickles, pickled peppers, and applesauce!
-I grew veggies without killing them!
-I have now kept off the 50 pounds I lost after high school for 10 whole years (I am so super proud of this one!)
-Travelled to Oregon and Washington and did a self-made winery tour!
-Learned how to do yoga and meditation- and how important it is for cleansing my mind, body, and spirit.  If you’re not an “athlete,” I really do recommend yoga.  It is so good for easing back pain, building core strength, trimming your waist, and clearing your head.  Love it!

2011 New Year’s Resolutions in Review:
1. Keep to the Sonoma Diet for 1 whole year- Hubby and I did it!! We don’t even think of it as a diet anymore.  It’s just the way we eat.  I have lost the extra 10 pounds from last Christmas when I made that resolution- and kept it off all year.  And I still had my wine and chocolate and drank it, too!  I can’t go on that trip to Sonoma that I had promised myself if I kept this resolution, because they have decided I am not allowed to take any time off in January, but I will be going to Sonoma at some point as a reward!
2. Blog every day- ok, so obviously, I didn’t keep this one, but I am certainly blogging more than I did in 2010!
3. Say goodbye to toxic friends- Check!  I weeded out all the bad ones this year.  But man, it has been so, so hard.  I loved them so much- and I miss them terribly.  It is an ongoing struggle.  That said, my life is immeasurably improved without those people I thought I needed so much in it!
4. Go to church once a month- Shamefully, I haven’t kept this one either, and I think it’s part of the problem with the lack of balance in my life I now complain of.

So, I kept some resolutions but didn’t others.  That seems to be the way resolutions go.  Which brings us to next year’s resolutions.  I have given it lots of thought, and here’s what I came up with:  2012 should be centered around regaining the balance I have lost in my life.

2012 New Year’s Resolutions:
1. I have decided specifically NOT to resolve to lose any weight- for the first time in probably 15 years.  Lol. I like the diet I have now and the weight I am at, and intend to keep it.
2. I will be doing a detoxification for the first couple of weeks in January to bring balance back to my body after the holiday food and drinks.  It is found in the Whole Living Magazine, or it can be found here.
3.  I will at least read the Bible a couple times a month, and aim to go to church once a month, to bring some spiritual balance back to my soul.  I have always been such a spiritual person, and I really believe that this is the area I need to work on most to bring back some sanity to my world.
4.  Spiritual balance is not only about taking information in (i.e., reading the Bible and going to church), but also removing certain distractions.  I discovered in 2011 the importance of yoga, meditation, and running on clearing my mind and preparing my spirit, and it goes a long way towards helping me to relax.  I plan to practice yoga twice a week with 15 minutes of post-yoga meditation to allow my mind to clear and my spirit to rejuvenate.  The other weekdays (if I am not on call), I will run for a half-hour.  Weekends are reserved for luxurious, cleansing 1 hour long workouts, any combination of cardio and strength I want.
5.  Weekends are also reserved for spas.  On the weekend, I can take full advantage of the medical spa attached to our gym.  I must require myself to take some “me” time so that I can be a more effective wife, (dog) mom, and doctor.  Sauna, hot tub, steam room, and weekly scrubs.  Hopefully.  At least, I’m better about taking time for myself when I schedule it ahead of time.
6.  I will not be a doormat at work!!!  I learned in 2011 how it is so much more important for me to like me, than for everyone else to like me, so I will not be letting these vile people trample all over me.  I am not something for people to wipe their shoes on- I am worth so much more.  So if they wanna be unprofessional and rude to me, they best not expect me to stand by quietly.  This one has actually been in the works for much of December, so I’ve got a head-start on this one.  And my days have been much happier since.  Being that next year is hopefully my year of balance, though, I don’t intend to swing the opposite direction and become aggressive, just assertive.  I am worth it, darn it!

There it is, the fabulous six resolutions of 2012.  I will update!  Goodbye 2011, and Good Riddance!!  Here’s to hopeful wishes for a much, much better and brighter new year!