Not Resolutions

Yesterday’s Lincoln Journal Star editorial listed out the paper’s priorities for its editorial board this year, including pushing for a southern bypass for Highway 2 and keeping an eye on the current debate over tax reform, among other things. It got me to thinking, as most things do.

I am not prone to making resolutions, either at the dawn of a new year or at any other time. I have mentioned before my lifelong pursuit of relative planlessness, my disinterest in formal goal setting, and my general philosophy of facing each day on its own merits. As with any pronouncement, such talk has to be taken with a grain of salt. I did go to grad school with a goal in mind. I have a 403b. I spend at least a part of every workday setting objectives for my classroom and planning how we will reach those objectives. I have indeed done many things in my life that require forethought and preparation. Such activities are unavoidable to all but the most sloth-like.

But formally preparing a plan of attack for life in general, resolving to do this or that, or determining how I will conduct myself over any given 365-day, five-year, or ten-year period is something I have never been terribly excited to do or interested in. However, listing a set of priorities for an editorial board sounds like a completely legit and useful thing to do. Maybe it is simply a function of getting older, but for some reason, the idea finally made a certain amount of qualified sense to me.

So, I imagined myself as the board of an organization. That organization is me, consisting, as I do, of 65% water, 20% protein, 12% fats, and less than 1.5% each of DNA, RNA, and other organic and inorganic compounds, and governed, ostensibly, by the two and half pounds that is my brain. I am not about to get into any sort of Cartesian philosophical discussion of how that brain which is me can govern me, or what “me” is anyway. As that old hippie, Arlo Guthrie, is prone to saying: “That’s not what I came to talk about.”

However, I did spend some time thinking about what I wanted to set as my priorities for the year. I have tried not to phrase these priorities like resolutions, but sometimes that might be unavoidable. Whether they can be regarded as resolutions or not, I will not be referring to them as such. The Journal Star chose five priorities, so I have followed their lead.

First, I want to focus on consciousness. I am going to attempt to prioritize my choices to allow me to practice my beliefs more directly. For instance, I am ecologically-minded, so our household recycles, reuses as much as is feasible, tries to make food choices that are local and sustainable, and we keep the thermostat programmed and set at the minimum for comfort (or maybe even below…according to some guests) during all seasons. There is huge room for improvement, however. Primarily, we can eat more organic food. This is an expensive choice, but it would not create a hardship, I don’t think. Second, I could get back on my bike more often. I have not used the bike as transportation in far too long. My commute to work makes riding impractical, but I could use the bike for shorter trips. Perhaps the biggest manifestation of this priority is to look into improving the efficiency of this ninety year-old house. The windows need to be replaced, the doors need to be better weather-stripped, and the south-facing roof would be a perfect spot for solar cells.  Here, of course, money is the issue.

Second, I want to prioritize time outdoors. In the past, I would be out at a park or some other natural area nearly every weekend, regardless of season, birding, walking, fishing. I get out maybe once a month, now. That is a question of time.  I just have to make it.

Third, I want to prioritize charity. I currently donate to three organizations and whatever cause the kids are raising funds for at school. I think I can manage to part with a few more dollars to help other organizations whose missions I believe in and whose priorities are legit. I have not settled on which organizations those are, but I would like to double the number of groups that I support.

Also, I want to prioritize my profession. In reality, I don’t think I need to make this a priority, in some respects, since it is already probably my number one priority, but there are a few opportunities I want to take advantage of this year. I will attend the AP Summer Institute this year, something I have been considering since I started teaching. I also want to get serious about National Board Certification. I have mentioned this before, and the amount of work it takes to get certified seems daunting, but I think it would be a worthwhile experience. I don’t believe this is something I will achieve this year, but I do want to get the ball rolling in the next twelve months.

Finally, I want to prioritize writing. Thus far, I have done okay at keeping up with the blog posts. It has been only four weeks, so I have done nothing to really instill me with overwhelming confidence, but the fact that I am writing this now means that I am writing and not not writing. So, you know, I have got that going for me.

And, there it is: my five priorities for the year. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I will be successful at developing some of these priorities and unsuccessful at developing others. I am okay with that. I hope that I remember to check back in with the board to see how I am doing at maintaining my focus this year, but even that is not guaranteed. One thing I do know: these are not resolutions, no matter how much they may sound like it.

Have you any priorities this year? I would be interested to hear where you are considering focusing your own energy. And, of course, I wish you luck!