Dan and I have been together for almost ten years, and since our beginning New Years Eve/Day has been the one holiday that we reserve for just the two of us. This year was no exception: we left NJ on the morning of the 28th to come home and have a staycation until we go back to our offices on the 2nd.
I noticed that our entrance into 2019 feels remarkably similar to last year. We spent Eve making home-cooked food and playing games together, and we spent a portion of Day decluttering for 2019. We're putting together a box of stuff to donate, another box of stuff to recycle, and everything that's staying is getting put in its place. Organizing things makes us feel good, especially after the stress and scramble of the holiday season. |
I was thinking about New Years Resolutions as we tidied up. I've had the same resolutions every year since starting grad school, but I realized that they were rather abstract. "Increase vegetable intake" was too gray, and resolutions would probably be easier to achieve if they were more black and white. I've since refined my resolutions to those you see here:
These goals are important to my well-being and my happiness, but I struggle when it comes to doing things for myself. As do a lot of people, I think. It feels more rewarding to make someone else happy, to see those positive vibes project outward and touch others. So this year, I decided to convert my personal resolutions into something good for those who need it.
My resolutions are subdivided into daily or weekly goals. For each day that I accomplish a daily item, I will donate $0.25 (USD) to a charity/cause designated for that overall resolution (ie, one each for eating well and mental/physical health). For the weekly accomplishments related to grad school and beyond, I will donate $1.75 (USD) to a third cause. I know it's not much per day/week, but your girl here has expenses and only a grad student stipend to cover them all with. Plus, if I achieve all of my goals, I could be donating up to $182 (USD) to each of the three causes. I see this as a win-win: I'm extra motivated to commit to my resolutions and the three causes will get something out of it as well. If you want to follow along with my progress throughout the year, I made a spreadsheet to keep track of everything.
I'm going to do a bit of research before announcing my charities/causes next week. I would love to hear any suggestions you might have! I wish you all a happy, healthy, and productive 2019 :)