New Years Resolutions.....and one done!!

How are your New Year's Resolutions going?



With January almost two weeks in, I am wondering how many of you have kept your New Year's resolutions" In the past I have done a so-so job of doing so, but this year I have made up my mind to set realistic goals and just get going on them.

I have always wanted my pantry to be in order, with everything labeled so I could easily find what I needed quickly....I will admit, I never did have this order in my pantry. When I first moved into my home, I just wanted to get things put away quickly into the empty pantry and things just got unpacked and put away and the door shut. Nothing really got organized as I would like. This year I have committed to doing the pantry clean-out and clean-up. I started by emptying everything out of the pantry and washing all the containers that I would use. Now this was a commitment, if you have not seen my pantry. You see, I always shop sales in the grocery store and shop like I will be stuck in for the "big storm". I will admit my grocery resources got completely out of hand. I probobly have enough pasta to last a lifetime. If there were a 12 step program for "grocery shopper over doers", I would be there. That would be my group! Emptying this closet was a task that took several days, now I didn't work on it 24/7, I did take some breaks from it....you know like to sleep & eat. Here we are almost half empty. They say a positive attitude would be to look at something as "half full", not in this instance, I am making headway and the pantry is now half empty. Stuff was stacked all over so that things could eventually get organized. Some more stuff. At one point, I was on the phone with my daughter as I was emptying and telling her what I was finding. I even surprised myself in a way as to how much I had. I know that she could not really envision what I was doing and finding, so I emailed her some of the photos. It was crazy, one of those moments that I guess you needed to be there. We laughed so hard till we cried, when she saw the photos. Carrie made a pretty funny comment to me. She said that with all that stuff in the pantry, as I empty it I may even find a lost boy friend in there! It was funny at the time anyway. One of those moments you had to be there.
This is how it looked before I started. Ugh!! Things no longer fit on the shelves, so I just stacked stuff on the floor. Here's another peek at my mess. Remember how when your babies were little, you never happened to notice how gross the high chair got? But when you went to visit a friend or relative it was always obvious how gross their babies high chair was! My pantry was like a high chair. I just accepted it as it was and never saw it's grossness. Until now.............. My first New Year's Resolution is done!! I keep opening the door and peeking in to see if it is real. Everything is labeled and organized and I actually know exactly what I have now. A huge box of food was set aside to bring to a homeless shelter. My next resolution if you haven't guessed: stay away from the grocery stores, Publix, Winn-Dixie and Albertson's you will not be seeing me for awhile. And my next reslution then, to cook with and use up what I have.

Now, wasn't that easy?
What are your resolutions? If you're trying to pay down your credit cards, quit smoking, get a new job, find a mate, or shed some excess poundage, abandoning New Year's resolutions won't get you off the hook you will still have these issues until you decide to take action.

But by setting more realistic goals for yourself and not limiting yourself to a once-a-year, do-or-die, all-out assault on that mountain of debt, those flabby thighs, or the hideous wallpaper you keep meaning to replace, you may find that the finish line isn't so far away after all.

In thinking about my New Year's Resolutions, I did a little research. Popular New Year's Resolutions Americans commonly make every January are:
· Lose weight
· Manage debt/save money
· Get a better job
· Get fit
· Eat right
· Get a better education
· Drink less alcohol
· Quit smoking
· Reduce stress overall and/or at work
· Take a trip
· Volunteer to help others

I could not find cited the sources for these popular New Year's resolutions, nor any statistics on how often they are broken.

A little history on the tradition of New Year's Resolutions seems to date back to the first century B.C., although the event had a more religious significance back then. Janus, the Roman God of Beginnings, was considered the ruler over the past and the future and was often visited by believers who wanted to entrust their future hopes to him. The name Janus is also the origin of the word January, which eventually became the traditional time for resolutions. Some modern religions have close connections to the idea of resolutions as well. For example, Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday, is a time to reflect about the year gone by and analyze mistakes and wrongdoings in the hope of improving them in the year to come.

Will you keep your new years resolution? Don't let your motto become "In One Year, Out the Other". Tackling goals one at a time makes sense and might lead to success. I'm going to give it a try! Want to join me?

P.S. as a Realtor, I suppose that I should add here that having organized and neat closets makes them appear more spacious and will add value to your home if you are attempting to "sell" in just the same way that excellent "curb appeal" does.