Promises to Myself

Every year, we all make resolutions.

This year, with the massive change of venue, I've decided to do things a little differently. I'm making promises. To myself. Maybe to some other people, too, but they're principally promises to me.

Without further ado:

1) I'm down to two cigarettes a day right now. I am going to quit smoking.
2) I am going to get into the best shape of my life in the next year.
3) I am investing more time in my hobbies and personal pursuits. I've left too much wait til tomorrow. That ends today.
4) I'm taking a break from love. This year, I'm focused on me, so that when I focus on love again, I'm better suited to do my best at it.
5) I'm re-investing in friendships. I joke about it a lot (and there's another entry on family and friends that's forthcoming that will expound on this), but I'm fortunate to have the varied, diverse, and eclectic friends that I have gathered about me over the years. Someone said once that you can accurately judge the value of a man by the friends he keeps. If that's the case, this half-built house that is my life is benefiting from the neighboring structures.
6) I'm going to learn to cook.
7) I'm going to take time to smell the roses.
8) I'm going to bring everything I can to my job. I work for and with some great people, and I'm unique in what I bring to a project. That should be an encouragement to do more and increase my involvement, not an invitation to rest on my laurels.
9) I've always thought that we cease to be children when we stop playing happily in the rain. I want a little of that joy back in my life, and it's doable.
10) By the end of this year, I'm going to have a much better understanding of who I am and where I'm going. I'm going to be the best Josh I've ever been.
11) A good writer reads good books. I'm going back to basics. And by basics, I mean classics. Other new good books, sure. But I'm under-read for a writer.
12) I'm going to start trying my hand at screenplays for television and cinema. Too many "novel ideas" in my head for any one man to write. Some of them might be better suited to those media than the novel format.
13) Life's too short not to speak one's mind. I'm going to be doing more of that from here on out.
14) There's too much I have said is impossible in my life that's actually possible. That ends today. I'm going to start reaching for the stars.
15) I'm going to start investing in my future. Today.
16) I'm going to try to become more of an optimist and less of a cynical pessimist calling himself a practical cat. See #14.
17) I'm letting go of a few old, longstanding grudges. They don't profit me anything at all.
18) I'm going to stop over-analyzing everything (except at work, where I'm supposed to) and just enjoy the interesting things life throws at me.
19) I'm going to grow a bonsai and/or a hydroponic garden. I think caring for something alive on a daily basis would be good and healthy for me.
20) 365 days breaks down to 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. I'm going to make the most of every one I'm not sleeping. No more idled time.

These are my 20 promises to myself. Look yourself in a mirror and make some to yourself instead of the same tired resolutions to lose the holiday pounds or giving up caffeine. You are your own best or worst friend. We try to keep promises to our friends. Resolutions? Meh...those things never work, right?